Thunder and Lightening, Oooooo So Frightening

What the hell was that last night? I felt like I was waking up the the apocolypse! Growing up in Missouri I am not one to be afraid of storms or tornadoes either one. After the tradegies in Joplin and Sedalia I have a new found respect for severe weather. So last night when I woke up to what I thought was my windows being blown out I paid attention. Soon after I jumped out of bed to see what was exactly happening the power went out, then the panic set in. I couldn't see anything but by flash of lightening and what I was seeing was not settling too well. The wind was so fierce that I thought for sure I was in a tornado. It wasn't a few seconds for Darin to be right behind me peering out the window, and another few seconds for us to decide that our asses are going to the basement. Thank God for Android phones to light our way with the flashlight app. We rounded up our girls and down the stairs we went. Of course I'm keeping a brave face for my girls, because with the first sign of my fear I knew they would have mental breakdowns. But not Ava, she slept through the whole thing. So after 50 or so "what's going ons" later we made it to the basement safe and sound.

We had no power, no lights, no radio and Darin was hunting feverishly for a flashlight and some candles. The light from the candles was somewhat comforting and it wasn't long before I realized I was more afraid than my children. Ava was still sound asleep in my arms, and Zoie and Sofia were chatting away about tornadoes and how they were going to blow our house away. Outside mother nature was still beating the crap out of our house and then it hit me. Sofia's brand new trampoline was in the backyard that she had gotten for her birthday. I looked at Darin and said, "the trampoline is gone!" I couldn't imagine how anything would be left in the yard after this storm.

Once the storm died down we decided to head back up to bed by candle light, and surprisingly enough all the girls went right back down with no issues. I wish I could have said the same about myself. I laid they and tossed and turned as the thunder rolled and the only light still was the flashes of lightening outside. I was worried that my cellphone alarm wouldn't wake me up in a few hours, I was worried that the sirens for a tornado would go off and I wouldn't hear them, and I was worried that there was damage outside that I didn't not want to see in the light of day.

Considering I get up at 5:30am to get ready for my daycare kids I only had a few short hours before I had to be up anyway and then my mind started racing again. How was I going to watch my kids with no electricity? No lights, no stove, and no air conditioning. So this basically what consisted of the rest of my night.

When I did get up and picked my clothes out by flashlight, the tornado sirens started going off. Great! Now what! Was this for real, or just a false alarm? I peeked outside and it appeared to me to be a false alarm and soon after the power was restored. Thank God, cause I didn't want to take a shower in the dark. Then as daylight slowly crept in we could assess the damage. Trees down, limbs in the yard, and our trampoline was ok. It was in the neighbors yard but appeared to be fine. From reports that I have heard I think we are one of the lucky ones. There are several people who don't have power, Zoie's best friends trampoline didn't fair as well as ours, and one of my daycare moms said her neighbor had a tree in his car. So happy Monday everyone, surely this day will only get better from here.

Welcome to My New Normal

Well back to life as I know it is taking some getting used to. After six months out of the game I was ready to get back to life and take it by the horns. I just started my second week as a childcare provided and it is going great so far. The only bump I seem to be experiencing is Sofia adapting. She was first used to having Mommy all to herself and then she had to get used to having Ava at home. Then a few weeks later she is having to get used to having to share her Mommy with other kids and she is struggling. I'm sure she will get used to it, I just hope it's sooner than later. We are all having a great time though. It's so nice and I'm so fortunate to be able to stay home with my kids, especially with my little baby Ava. I'm not real sure I could leave her with anyone if I did go back to work. Since she is my last I want to make sure I don't miss a moment.

I guess I figured getting to stay home on a daily basis would give me more time to get stuff down around the house. Boy was I wrong. I am more busy now than I was with a full time job. I would trade it for the world though. I still get a few moments of silence between keeping the peace, serving meals, and wiping noses. Oh and don't forget changing diapers that's right in there too. All I have to say is thank goodness for nap time. Now if only adults had a daily nap time, then life would be perfect.

The Eleazarraraz family got to enjoy a mini vacation before my life returned to a new normal. We went to St. Louis and went to the Zoo, Grants Farm and the Science Center. The girls loved it. It was a great getaway and I would recommend it to any family. It's a pretty cheap way to have a good time. We picniced in Forest Park the day we went to the Zoo and the girls thought that was pretty cool, but not as cool as the carriage ride we took downtown after eating at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The horse the led our carriage was named Scooby Doo and had purple sparkly nail polish. The girls just thought that was it. But with all the fun things we had planned and saw all the girls could talk about was the pool at the hotel. Unfortunately the pool just opened the day before we got there and it was freezing cold. I don't do well with cold water. Needless to say my foot is the only thing that got in the water this vacation.

But most of all I'm so excited to spend my summer with my family. I'm already enjoying having my weekends free to spend with my kids and of course Darin. We can go see family or go to the lake, or whatever we want to do and I don't have to worry about missing out on anything. That has got to be one of the greatest gifts in life. To get to see my kids grow up and enjoy their lives is so important to me, and I'm going to cherish every minute of it. So stayed tuned there is more to come...