TORNADOES. And Autumn's Last Hurrah!

Hey you guys. Tornadoes. Seriously. Last Sunday we were on the front page of various national news services because there was a gigantic tornado that passed just South of us. Church was cancelled on account of extreme weather and we all got text alerts from the National Weather Service warning us of flash floods, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hail the size of quarters. It was awesome.

Okay, Mike thought it was awesome, and we were not in the danger zone, so I should have thought it was awesome too. But I really couldn't, because I have lived my whole life in the desert. There, "extreme weather" was the inversion we got every year and couldn't use our fireplaces. Oh, and we had to wear coats in the winter. Now I'm being warned about all kinds of craziness. Not to mention, Mike had the news on to see what was going on and they kept showing pictures of all the crazy damage that the 60 tornadoes did (yes, I said 60). Also, there was one tornado that was over a quarter of a mile wide and stayed on the ground for two miles. It's a miracle that as few people were hurt or killed as there were.

Maybe it's selfish of me to be freaked out. Or a little bit dumb because we just had crazy rain and wind, which is totally survivable, and nothing really happened to our family except missing church. But really, I've never had to deal with this kind of thing before. I had a little bit of a panic attack. *Breathe in, breathe out.*

Okay, we're cool.

Anyhow, how have you guys been? It feels like I haven't blogged in a while. Here are some quotes to lighten the mood.

Me: What do you guys want me to plan for Thanksgiving dinner?
Mike: Stuffing, Cranberry sauce, Pumpkin pie
Me: Well, duh. Anything else?
Katie: Lollipop. I love lollipops. Can you please write down lollipop?

(When we told her she couldn't play on Daddy's computer)
Katie: You are not my mom and dad! You are just responsible people!

Katie-on-the-potty: You are my best Mommy ever, but you got ated by the big hungry bear. And then I was the hero and I got ated by the big hungry bear and went down in his stomach and protected you.

There, feel better?

One thing that has bugged me recently is that Katie has been calling me "mother". I know what you're thinking, it's actually really funny and a little bit cute when Katie says it. But the only time I think she's heard people call their mom "mother" is on Tangled (when "mother" is the evil witch) or on Cinderella (when it's the evil Stepmother). I'm much more comfortable with "mommy". Call me crazy.

In other news, Peter is the king of raspberries. Whenever he's not shrieking in excitement or whining to be held, he's blowing raspberries. The big, juicy, tongue-sticking-out, rude noises kind of raspberries. I think he learned them from his sister. More than once have I gotten sprayed in the eye when I was trying to play with him or feed him sweet potatoes. Yuck.

Joshy, on the other hand, is more sneaky. He waits until they're on the floor playing together and I'm busy doing something, then will only be satisfied if he has whatever toy Peter currently has. Joshy is super flexible and bendy and is really good at using his feet like a monkey. He uses this to his advantage. So no matter how many shaky toys or teethers I leave next to Peter, when I come back they are all on Joshy's side and Peter is sad and toyless.

I guess they both get each other, though, because their favorite game recently is "binky wars." They'll wait until I'm not looking, throw their binkies across the room, then steal brother's binky. When I come back, the culprit is happily gnawing away on his brother's binky and the victim is whining pitifully, trying to wriggle his way over to his brother to get his binky back.

Okay, enough talk. Let's pictures! Why? Because my children are adorable. And the whole reason you read my blog is to see my babies.

Here's the last two weeks: puffy eyes, runny noses, all piled on Mommy.

Peter loves the bouncy toy.

A rare smile when Josh was still sick.

Joshy has beautiful twinkly eyes.

Peter has beautiful twinkly eyes.

The last hurrah! Quick, let's go to the park for ten minutes before we freeze our buns off!

She thought she was invisible.

 

"Whoa, Mom! I think he's going to actually let me have one!"

I'm not sure if I'm going to blog again before Thanksgiving, so . . . Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots, don't get sick, and if you're one of those Black Friday types, don't get trampled!