Planting Our Veggies

Today we planted the vegetables for our garden.

This is the tomatoes (far left) and the peppers.  The buckets are to catch rainwater, which we will later water the garden with.

 

This is our watering system.  We took soaker hose and wrapped it loosely around each plant. We didn't want any extra water spraying the ground, as this part of our yard is really prone to growing weeds.

 

 

Each plant will get its own personal supply of water.

 

 

Then we put a layer of pine straw over the soaker hose, in hopes of keeping the water in the dirt longer.

 

Here is Quinn, showing off "his" garden....which houses the squash (left), zucchini (middle), and cucumbers (right).   And in true VeggieTales fashion, Quinn insists that we are growing peppers, squash, zucchini, Bob and Larry!

Quinn lost his first tooth!

Over the past few weeks, we have noticed that Quinn has had a couple loose teeth.  He's been wiggling them a lot and tonight we decided it was time for one of them to come out.

It actually wasn't quite as loose as we thought, but we did some extra wiggling, said a lot of prayers, offered tons of reassurance and finally......

Making Bubble Snakes

I've determined that this summer I will have specific activities for all of us to do together.  I finally bit the bullet and joined Pinterest, and now I'm wondering why I put it off so long!  Of course, you can find a million and one different things on this site.  Some of the ideas are way too crafty for me, but I've found many I can't wait to try.

I decided today would be our first activity, as the first "unofficial" day of summer...Memorial Day.  We took advantage of Jacob's nap time, and Quinn, Buddy, and I made bubble snakes!

First you take a 20 ounce water bottle and cut the bottom off.  Take an old sock and wrap it around the bottle, securing it with a rubber band, duct tape, etc.  Also take a pan, squirt some dish soap and add water until it bubbles up.

Dip the sock bottle into the bubble solution and blow....you get bubbles that "snake" out of the sock!

 

Was it fun?  I think this smile says it all!

Spring Cleaning....Day 3....Master Bedroom

Oh my....what a chore!  Today's assignment in the cleaning challenge was to clean the master bedroom. Actually it said clean bedrooms....but since we have three, I decided to do mine as it was most in need of a good cleaning.

I will be honest and tell you that my room was horribly messy, but I just cannot bring myself to post a before picture.  And I'm not going to apologize for it, because this is my blog!  And I have just a smidgen of pride that I don't want to publicly embarass myself. However, it has been too long since I cleaned it, so whatever picture you are envisioning in your mind is probably pretty close!

Here are the after pictures.  And I also cleaned out the walk-in closet, but the picture didn't turn out so well.

I can't tell you how good it felt to go to sleep in a perfectly clean room!  I really want to keep it looking nice.

Spring Cleaning....Day 2....master bathroom

I'm continuing to catch up on the Spring Cleaning Challenge by Money Saving Mom.   I have done some of the projects out of order and slightly behind schedule due to having a family day on Monday (Buddy was off work and I am on Spring Break!)  I worked on the master bedroom (day 3 project) yesterday which was actually day 4, so today I jumped right in to work on day 2 which should have been done on Tuesday.

Confused yet? At least I'm trying!

And in my quest to get caught up on the different projects for this challenge, I forgot to take a before picture. Here is what it looks like now, though!

Becoming Clean for Spring

I have decided to participate in Money Saving Mom's spring cleaning challenge. It's already Friday, and I'm a bit behind on getting my posts up, but I want to share my efforts anyway.

The first day's project was to clean your kitchen and living room areas.  Cleaning these two areas together seems natural to me, as they are all one room. We have a vaulted ceiling, and the kitchen sink area opens up into the living room.  Makes doing dishes fun, since I can see the TV....but it also can be distracting at times. 

Luckily, my living room had already been picked up a good bit, as we had Jacob's birthday party this past Saturday.  However, cooking Easter dinner totally wrecked my kitchen. I even took time to bleach the grout on my tile counter tops, deep clean the top of my stove, and the inside of my microwave. 

Here are my efforts.

This is my kitchen before. You can see how the kitchen looks into the living room.

Quinn came in to the kitchen as I was almost finished. He had been playing in his room with his toys, but when he saw me with the mop and broom, he immediately wanted to be my "special helper"!  Well, how can you turn that down? I sent him to put on old clothes and we tackled the kitchen floor. 

Here are my kitchen after pictures.

This is my living room before.  The picture is a little blurry, but you can still see the laundry pile (my never-ending battle with a mountain of clothes), a haphazard shoe, and party bags still on the end table.

There...that looks much better!!

Now if I can convince my boys and dog that it should STAY this way......



My New Morning Routine

Now that school has started back and I have two boys to drop off in two different places, combined with a husband who must leave the house by 5:30am to get to his project by 7am, I have had to develop a new morning routine.  Some of the things I do at night, or I would never be ready on time.

On Sunday afternoons, we iron all the clothes for the week. It may seem a little silly to iron clothes will just get dirty since Buddy works on a construction site. Buddy says that just because he works on-site doesn't mean he will look like a slob at work. So yes, he or I will iron his clothes, my clothes and Quinn's clothes for the week on Sunday while the boys are napping.

Each evening, I make sure that Jacob's bottles have water in them and the formula is bagged up and in his "lunch bag". (When he starts eating solids, I will add that in too.) I do what I can to prep Buddy's and my lunch bags as well...bagging chips, veggies, or whatever else we want to take for lunch.

In the mornings, I get up at 4:30am, get my shower and make sandwiches for our lunch. Neither of us like sandwiches made the night before...too soggy. I also get the coffee made and make sure Buddy's out of the bed. He's a hard sleeper and never hears the alarm!  I try to get my breakfast eaten and then go wake up Jacob so I can give him a bottle before we leave. I also have Quinn up and let Dixie out. By now, Buddy has left for work. While I'm getting ready, Quinn watches Blue's Clues and eats his breakfast, and Jacob plays on the floor or takes a post-bottle power nap. Then I get the boys dressed and Dixie fed and put back in her kennel.  I load everything in the car, and down the road we go!  

The plan is to be out the door no later than 6:40am....so I can drop Quinn off at the church, get Jacob down to Susan's house, and back to the other side of town at my school by 7:30am.  My goal is 7:30 because sometimes we have faculty meetings before school and they always start at 7:30am. 

Whew...makes me tired re-living it...makes me tired doing it!

But this is my life right now....and I'm thankful for it!

A Gift From Down Under

Jacob has had quite the difficult time with teething. While he hasn't developed the ear infections like Quinn did (PTL!) he has been super fussy and crying a lot. I remembered that one of my friends posted a picture on Facebook of her daughter wearing a teething necklace so I sent her a message about it.  It would have been hard to call her, because my friend lives in Australia.

I have known Michal since we were about 18 months old...we attended the same daycare, and all the same schools from elementary, all the way to Clemson! Her dad and my mom also went to high school together. She told me about the necklace and how well it worked for her daughter. Then she offered to send a necklace to me for Jacob!

A few days ago we got a package from Down Under!  Notice the Australia post mark.

In the package was a Koala bear postcard, an info sheet about the necklace, and the necklace itself.

The necklace is made of amber, and as you wear the necklace, the amber resin absorbs into your body. Something in the amber provides the analgesic affect that products like Orajel do, without having to apply a medicine to your gums. Plus it looks pretty stylish too!

Here's Jacob sporting his "Aussie Bling"!!

(Side Note...he's been wearing it several days now, and some new teeth have emerged....I didn't know they were there because he wasn't fussy, didn't drool, and didn't cry!  Guess this really works!)





Fun at the Pool

My friend and co-worker, Beth, invited the boys and me to come swimming with her at her family's pool the other day.  After spending time with Aunt Dawn at her pool, Quinn is feeling much more comfortable in the water these days.

We got there in time for a picnic lunch and some fun. Jacob was a good boy to nap and play in the pack-n-play while Quinn and I played with Beth and her two children in the water.

We had a great time! Thanks Beth for your hospitality and friendship!!

3 months of Brotherly bonding!

Jacob is 3 months old today! I don't have any official "stats" on him today since we don't go to the doctor until next month.

I thought instead I would share a few brother bonding pictures.

Quinn is really becoming a great big brother! He is so loving with Jacob....hugging him, kissing him, and wanting to hold him. Jacob can't keep his eyes off his brother! I hope this is a bond that will stay with my boys for life!

A Big Boy Room for a Big Brother!

Last Saturday, Quinn moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room!  We cleaned out the guest room and painted the walls. His furniture came on Saturday while he was napping....his last time sleeping in the crib.

And let me just insert a disclaimer here.  Our three-and-a-half year old has not been sleeping in a full crib all this time. We had taken the front off, so it looked more like a "daybed" with the protective guard so he wouldn't roll out.  (Back to the story!)

We got him a bunk-bed style loft. The bottom bunk is separate, so we didn't even set it up for now. Instead of having a ladder, it has 6 little stairs. The other end holding up the bed is the dresser. We liked this feature of having the dresser attached to the bed, since it wouldn't take up valuable play space, as this room isn't all that big.  Since the room already had green curtains, I picked out a "camo" bedding set!

My favorite part is the play space under the bed, perfect for his tool bench and toy box!  You can just see the corner of a rug that looks like a road, so he can play with his cars.  His first words when he saw his new room was "Oh wow Mommy. It's purty!"  (That's my little country boy!)

I took these pictures right before we had "lights out". We would always say a prayer before kissing him, but lately Quinn has been really interested in saying his own prayer.  It goes something like this:

"Dear Jesus. Tank you for da day. Hep (help) me sweep (sleep) good. Bwess Mommy, Bwess Daddy, Bwess Quinn, Bwess Tillman (our dog), Bwess Dixie (our new puppy...that's another story), Bwess Gwandma and Gwandpa, Bwess Nana and Papa. Hep me sweep good. Amen"

And this was the last little grin I got right before Quinn laid down for his first sleep in his new bed! 

He has really done well with this bed. I was afraid of him trying to get down in the night or something, but he goes right to sleep.  And the bed is sturdy enough that either Buddy or I can get up there with him and lay down, should he ever need us.  He actually likes it when we get up there with him! 

And yes, I did have a couple of tears over the idea of my sweet boy no longer needing the baby room!

Now we just need to know what new baby is so we can get the room ready. March will be here before we know it!

What we've been up to lately

I mentioned before that life got busy and I didn't blog as much as normal, especially with keeping up-to-date with different events going on.  Well, here's why.

I don't like to advertise on the blog or Facebook when my husband is not at home.  But I can happily say he is at home with us again! You see, for the past year, Buddy has been working out of town. His company is a local one, but his project assignments have not been. Last August we found out that him going out of town for a job would be imminent.  And mid-September, he left for Atlanta. At first he came home every week, but 6 hours home on Friday and 6 hours back on Sunday made for a tired man! Plus the job got busy, so it turned into every other week. That lasted until right before Thanksgiving.

He was home during the holidays and we got to take a nice, leisurely, snowy Christmas with both sets of parents.

In January, the out of town talk started again. Mid-January, he left for the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia....closer, but still 4 hours away. And once again, his weekly weekends home turned into 2-week stretches. And our weekends consisted of tons of laundry and precious moments together.

And then one glorious day in July, I discovered that our family was about to get a little bit bigger! 

Yes, I am pregnant with baby #2!!

But that scared me because I didn't want to be pregnant and my husband out of town. And we found out that a local projet Buddy had been involved with in the past was about to begin building again. So we started praying about it. And the Lord knows best when to answer our prayers, because in mid-August, we found out Buddy had be reassigned....to the LOCAL project!!!

So we have been adjusting to "living together" again....and he got home just in time for my morning sickness to kick in! Praise the Lord he was home because some days I just felt awful all day long.

I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was to be without him for so long. And you can imagine how much it broke my heart to hear Quinn say, "Mommy, I want Daddy."  So many people prayed for us during this time, and those prayers lifted me up daily. Because I never thought I could do this. At times, I felt so alone. But my God is a good God, and my God is an On-Time God. And He knew the best time to answer my prayers. Almost a year to the day, Buddy came home.

And Baby #2 should be here at the end of March. Happy Spring Break for me!

No picture to prove it, but trust me...

Quinn hasn't used his paci in a month!  And I mean not at all.

Not to sleep with.

Not for nap time.

Not because he had been crying and needed it for comfort.

Not because he was bored and had nothing better to do.

And this from a boy who has been known to hold 4 of them at one time!! I actually saw him get two in his mouth and one in each hand. Usually he had three though, and would interchange them. He would also take the one in his mouth and twirl it every few seconds or so.  He loved his "na-na" so much and I've been dreading this time of elimination.

When we got Quinn packed up and ready to go to my parents for his summer trip, I slipped one of his pacis to my mom to put in her pocket, with instructions to only use it if necessary. He used it in the car but once they got to their house, Mom took it away. At bedtime, he didn't ask for it and she didn't think to offer it. The next day, he didn't ask for it in the morning or at nap, but he did ask for it at bedtime. On the third day, he didn't ask for it all, and it continued throughout the trip. Even when I went down to their house to pick him up, I thought my being there would "remind" him to ask for it....but NO!

I brought him home and wouldn't you know, we had been in the house about 15 minutes and Quinn said "Mommy, I need my na-na." 

Uh oh.

I quickly replied, "You can't have it. We left it at Grandma's house."

Quinn said, "Na-na at Grandma's?  Ok Mommy."

That's it? That's all it took? 

We should have left it there at Christmas!!

For no reason at all

That's the best reason to get flowers, I think.

I always tell Buddy not to buy me flowers on Valentine's Day due to the jacked up prices.
I don't want them on my birthday or our anniversary because that seems so "expected" and I'm a low-key kind of girl.

But I've always said, If you are going to ever give me flowers, just do it because you love me!

Well, I guess he loves me because I got these today!

A dozen sterling roses! (aka...lavender roses).  I've got such a wonderful husband and I love him so very much!

How I Saved Our Family $1000 This Week....

I knew that title would get your attention!

(The other possibility was "Why Dave Ramsey Would Be Proud of Me. I figured the first one would get more attention.)

I was able to save our family $1000 this week, all thanks to the fine art of realizing "No" is not good enough.

A couple of weeks ago, Buddy noticed that my car was leaking something that appeared to be oil, but wasn't. It was coming from a part of my car that he couldn't identify, and neither could his dad. To make a long story short, I discovered it was the "front end hydraulic mount" for my engine. I went by the Mazda dealership where we purchased the car (brand new, by the way) back in 2007. I was panicking, since I knew my 36k warranty had technically run out. I'm at 38k, but the 3 years isn't up until August. After speaking with the service guy, I explained to him that my warranty was on the cusp of being over....was there anything he could do to help me. He went in to talk to his supervisor, and low and behold, I had a "Power Train warranty" that covers anything related to the engine, for 5 years, or 60,000 miles! I didn't even realize I had that warranty!

Three days later, while driving around town, we noticed smoke coming from under the hood of my car. A terrible noise was happening as well. The noise stopped as soon as we turned of the air conditioner. We went back to Mazda, only to discover that the air compressor had completely seized, and was shooting sparks. Ugh. I knew this would have been covered under the regular warranty, which I just mentioned had "run out." The service manager was not in, but I got an estimate of over $700 to fix the problem. I called and spoke to her when she returned and explained to her about the warranty issue. Surprisingly, she agreed to pay for the new air compressor, if we would pay for the labor costs. The part was more expensive, so we got a good deal there!

Today, Buddy was using one of his power tools and heard a strange sound. Then the tool quit working properly. He had recently purchased this tool, so we took it tonight back to the store where we bought it. After speaking to the guy in charge of power tools, we found out that there was a "30 day" return policy and of course, we were over by a few days. He said that the store could not exchange it, but we would have to take it to the closest manufacture warranty center, 30 minutes away, to have it fixed. I showed the back of my receipt to the girl at the service counter. The receipt said 90 days to exchange "if unsatisfied for any reason". The 30 day policy did not mention the item we bought. After speaking to the store manager, explaining my frustration over the policy, and explaining that the brand of tool we bought should not have broken down this soon, I asked if there was any way he could help us. He agreed to completely exchange the tool for a brand new one!

So, let me break this down.

Front End Hydraulic Mount.....over $400, covered by a warranty.

New Air Compressor....part cost almost $400, covered by dealer.

Replacement of a power tool.....$250, replaced by store manager.

While I had to pay for labor on my car, all total we saved almost $1000 this week, simply because I wouldn't take NO for an answer. If you know me in real life, you know that confrontation is not my thing. I'm not always assertive, and can actually come across as a little shy in certain situations. I'll be honest, each of these times I "stood my ground", my heart was pounding in my chest the whole time. But I politely explained my situation and each time, the Lord worked out the problem, thus helping my family save money.

And yes, Dave Ramsey would probably be proud of me. But what makes me happiest was how proud my husband was of me. He thanked me several times tonight for talking to the manager and getting his tool replaced. He told me several times over the past week how proud he was of me getting the car taken care of. Having my husband being proud of me makes me one happy girl!

We're Making Progress

We've been making progress around here lately.


My hand is all back to normal. Well, normal plus what will become a nifty new scar. Since the last time I posted, my 5 stitches got infected and made my hand swell. I ended up back at the doctor, who removed my stitches about four days early. He got all the nasty out of my finger but deemed it too infected to re-stitch. Instead, I got antibiotic pills to take for 10 days, and as a bonus parting gift, I got an antibiotic shot! I was all prepared for a shot to the arm, when the nurse turned to me and sweetly said "Honey, I'm going to need you to roll over!" Who knew they put those types of shots in your butt? Other than a scab and a little bit of tenderness, it's pretty much back to normal.

Quinn is making progress too! Potty progress that is. He will still sit on it for me and has even used it a few times. At school, though, he won't go near them! It's a combination of factors I think. For one, the potty at school looks nothing like our potty at home. We've got a cute one that looks like a king's throne and plays a magical tune when you are successful. The potty at school looks like a miniature version of a real toilet. It also doesn't have a back to it, so the kids have to hold themselves up. Unlike at home, where the "throne" has a back to it. Also, the one at home doesn't flush. The ones at school do. So up until this week he wouldn't go near them. One of his teachers is on vacation, so a teacher from another room has been pulled into his for the week. Miss Pam was not only able to get Quinn in the bathroom, but she has gotten him to actually sit on it! So, that's progress.

Quinn is also making progress on his learning. He can name a lot of colors (red, green, yellow, blue, purple, and white). He can name a lot of letters (A, B, C, D, E, G, I, L, M, O, P, Q, R, U, Y, Z). He can name some of his numbers (1, 2, 3, 5, 9). And when I say "name them", I mean when we are walking through the grocery store and he sees a number on a price tag. Or if we are driving down the road and he sees a letter on a sign. Or if I ask him what color my jacket is and he says "purple". His regular teacher Miss Michelle commented on Friday how good he was with his colors, naming some that other kids could not!! That's progress!

And finally, there's been progress on the talking front! Quinn has just started to talk more in the past few weeks. In the back of my mind, I've been afraid of the impact of all the ear infections he has had. Seven or eight in a little less than a year's time had me a little concerned. Since he's had tubes put in back in September, his talking has slowly increased. At his 2-year check up, Quinn's pediatrician didn't seem concerned. The teacher in me knows that early detection of a delay is key to helping improve a child's ability, so you can probably understand how I've been feeling. He has just exploded with words over the past few weeks. I think a lot of it may be that he's now in a class with kids who talk. Some of it may be that it is finally his "time" to talk. Whatever it is, I just praise the Lord for answering a prayer! Sure, there are times when it all sounds like babbling. Other times I can pick out a word or two mixed in with the babbles. And then there are times when I know exactly what he's saying. Either way, I'm just glad he's talking!

Progress...it's a good thing!

Quick Update

.Testing....Testing....

Are there any readers still out there?? I don't normally go this long without some sort of an update. Life has us running in 50 million different directions that I haven't had the time to post anything.

All the snow we've had recently caused some schedule changes at school....mainly with turning a teacher workday into a student day. I had a LOT of parent conferences scheduled that day, and I am now working to get all these done. I'm having to give up planning times and time before and after school. I will be so glad to get these taken care of.

I've also had to deal with a situation at work where I've had to add another child to my class. I know what you are thinking...another one? Yes...another one. That would make 25! The only problem is that this just isn't a new student--he was transferred from another class in our building. It's a long story, but just pray that the child will behave in my class. His behavior is a MAJOR part of why he is now with me. He's been with us for one week and we haven't had any problems. Just pray for the rest of the year to be as smooth as this transition week has been.

Quinn has moved up to the two-year-old room at daycare! He started this past Tuesday. The room is bigger, the toys are not as babyish, and the playground has a slide! Mainly, they start doing more "school" type activities in this room. Quinn has not adapted as well as I had hoped...he cries when I leave him. I'm sure this will get better with time. He also will begin potty-training in this room. We have bought a potty for home and he's had a few successes! I'm not pushing it or rushing it, and he seems to enjoy sitting on it.

Buddy has gotten promoted at the fire department. He is now a Lieutenant and got to change his helmet to an officer's helmet...red! I'm proud of him for all he's accomplished at the station. He also got his 5 year service award back in December.

I guess that's it for now. There just hasn't been anything too exciting going on.

So Happy Together....AGAIN!!!!

This has been the best day....our little family is back together! For those of you who don't know me in real life, my husband has been working 3rd shift for the past six weeks. He was assigned this project, and Sunday night was his last night of this craziness! Woo Hoo!!!!

I have to admit now...I totally admire single mothers for all that they have to do, as that's what I felt like. A married "single mom". Buddy and I were basically shadows passing in the hallway. He would come home (hopefully) before Quinn and I left for school. He would be waking up when we would get home in the afternoon. Some days he didn't even get home until 8am. And some days he went in as early as 7pm. And, this was a 7-day-a-week project, so he didn't even have the weekends to recuperate.

I am so proud of him for making this sacrifice, considering what the alternatives could have been. Watching him switch from 'normal' hours to night shift hours was hard. Watching him lose 15-20 pounds was hard. (He's not a breakfast person, so he wouldn't eat supper with us when he first woke up. Some mornings he came home so tired he went straight to bed. So basically he lived on ham sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs and energy drinks.) Watching him miss out on time with us was hard. Watching Quinn, who couldn't understand why Daddy left at play time, was hard, too.

I've missed my husband over these past few weeks. It was a very tough time for all of us and I am so glad it is over. Here is a picture of us from our walk tonight. My neighbor took the picture for us, and that is our house in the background. (Notice the grass is cut...thanks to Buddy...who was actually eager to get back to yard work). (And also notice that I am wearing shorts that fit me 2 summers BEFORE Quinn was born...woo hoo!!)

I can't see me loving nobody but you, for all my life.

When you're with me, baby, the skies will be blue, for all my life.

Me and you and you and me

No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be

The only one for me is you, and you for me

SO HAPPY TOGETHER!!!!!

Lyrics by: The Turtles

Birds, you are no longer welcome here

It is very disturbing to go to your dryer to get out the clean, dry clothes, and instead find a pile of warm, still soaking wet clothes. This is what I had to deal with on Thursday afternoon.

I had put some clothes into dry while I was getting ready for work. I heard it cut off, but didn't take time to switch until I got home. That's when I realized the clothes were still wet. I turned the dryer on again and heard it cut off later on, but still too soon for the clothes to be completely dry. Buddy thought maybe we should change the flexible vent tube off the back of the dryer. I bought the supplies, he did the hard work and Friday we tried it again.

The dryer turned on, the clothes spun, and when I checked they were still wet. At this point I began to panic. I did not want to buy a new dryer. We are trying to become debt free, and a new dryer is not in our budget! :-)

This time we did some checking into the venting system. We had suspicions that there were birds nesting in the part of the vent that is on the edge of the house. We could see nesting material sticking out the of the vent cover. Buddy got in the attic and used a broom handle to push out all the nesting material. We also cleaned out the rest of the vents too. You would not believe the size of this nest. It probably went about a foot down the pipe! It was completely clogged. No wonder the clothes weren't drying.

The dryer is working perfectly now! Thanks to my husband's hard work, and despite his crazy schedule these days. Love you sweetie!

(P.S....two bird eggs were harmed in the fixing of the dryer vent....oh well. I'd rather two bird eggs broken, than the dryer. Do you know the cost of dryers these days? I bought the supplies to fix the dryer at Lowes, and the dryers I saw were in the $800 range! Sorry birds, but you wore out your welcome.)

It felt like Deja Vu....

A year ago on May 8th, my town experienced some pretty major thunderstorms that spawned several tornadoes. One tornado happened to touch down and sweep through an area that was within a mile or so from my house. I remember that night so well.

The storms began rolling in around supper time, and progressively got worse, with major lightning and thunder, and very heavy rains. It was bad enough that we began unplugging various appliances, and began to get in our "safe zone" of the house. Buddy turned on his fire department radios (he's an engineer, so he has officer radios that can listen to all information coming out of the control center.) We were able to hear both counties that we serve, as we live very close to the county line. We could tell by the type and frequency of calls coming in that the storms were getting closer to us. I was sitting in the hallway with Tillman (our dog) and Quinn, who was one day away from being four months old. Luckily for me, Quinn did a great job of sleeping.

Then we heard a call come in for our station that was only a mile from our house, and the information we heard let us know that the storm was REALLY bad. Buddy took off to help, and ushered Quinn, Tillman and I into the walk-in closet in our bedroom and handed us a flashlight. Good thing too because a few minutes later, the power went out. This meant our phone wouldn't work. I reached for my cell phone, only to see that the battery was dying. Then the storm hit. I could hear the rain pounding on the roof. I heard the clicking sound of hailstones hitting the windows and walls. I heard thunder, saw lightning, and heard crazy wind. I just prayed that the Lord would keep us safe.

Buddy, meanwhile, was sitting in the fire truck on the scene, when the tornado actually went past him. He said it DOES sound like a freight train. The tornado destroyed several homes in one neighborhood of our fire district, but we only lost a few limbs from the trees. God kept us safe!

So you can only imagine what went through my mind when the meteorologist on the news started describing similar situations were heading towards my area again last night! Luckily last night's storms ended up being nothing compared to what we went through last year. But, it sure did feel like deja vu!!