i woulda been more prepared for camping adventures

phew! it's been a loooong 24 hours!

we're pushing hard to get some serious house projects/ fix-it stuff done this week. my dad has taken some vacation time to help him out since i'm not too much of help these days. my role, watch the kids. i know it allows him to get stuff done without little boys underfoot, but it kills me to just "sit and do nothing".  ah well.

yesterday afternoon {Matt} spent some time finishing painting the front porch. my dad got a couple of small things done/started when {Matt} says that we are suppose to have a storm coming. he looks at the sky, shrugs his shoulders & says "i don't see any clouds". and cleans up a little of his current mess before heading onto the next task. literally 5 minutes later i come outside and ask if he's seen the now looming, dark clouds. they are almost on top of us so we all scurry around trying to gather tools & things outside. then in one fell swoop this huge blast of wind comes rushing down the street and things start flying. i grew up in the "tornado alley" so big thunderstorms are a common place afternoon occurrence. yesterday was a new experience. i felt a little like dorothy while running around the backyard picking up toys. trash cans rolling, buckets flying, umbrellas being swept into the air. i was certain a twister was gonna form in my backyard. as i opened the back door to bring the things in, a huge gust of wind blew leaves & branches down the hall and my skirt up over my head. holy smokes! then, at that moment, the power went out...

i went into super mom mode knowing that the power was out for the long haul. my dad had brought some steaks with him so it was ready to just throw on the grill. easy enough. thankfully the sun came out and then didn't set for another couple of hours so we enjoyed a picnic dinner on the back deck. {Matt} went to borrow his parents generator so we could keep the fridge, that was FULL of fresh groceries, running. other than that, we were camping. i washed baby bottles & dishes by candle light & a flashlight. put the kids to bed with the use of a head lamp (thanks to my MIL).  and the big boys joined us in our bed to snuggle close to the battery operated fan. it was a hot one. seriously, if i had planned on going camping with my family at a campground, i would have been better prepared. don't get me wrong, i actually love camping...just not in my house. the whole camping mentality yet still being in my house was killing me. i kept trying to turn things on and then was laughingly reminded why things weren't working. ha!


it took a full 24 hours before the power company got the lines fixed. it's been a long day. i know cause my feet hurt. :) but i also was constantly reminded of the families in joplin, mo that not only lost power, but water, houses, belongings, and loved ones. i realize the grace that was shown upon me and i can only catch a small glimpse of what they have experienced. so i end this day humbled & exhausted.

a branch that broke off our tree & hit my dad's car.
it flew...we hadn't moved it yet.

the culprit. the giant tree that lay across
 the street and power lines.