And We're Oughtta Here!

So long Texas and all of our good friends. We are almost packed and ready to go. We'll be making the big trek on Saturday and hope to arrive at our new home early next week. Until then...bonjour, adios, goodbye, hasta la vista!

The Big Move

Well, the week of our big move is finally here. I'm excited and not excited at the same time! Excited because I've been trying to get out of Texas since I got here but not excited about packing! I do have some dear friends that I will miss too! I'm thinking that I should have played the lottery to win some money. Then I could be sipping virgin pina coladas while I watch somebody else pack and move my stuff! However, since I don't play the lottery and probably wouldn't even know how I guess it's left up to me. I know it will all be worth it; it's just the getting there that stinks! Meridian Idaho is our destination and soon to be home sweet home.

A Good Example

The day following our severe thunderstorms as I took Ethan to school we saw the wrath of the storm and what it left behind. We talked about it a little bit and Ethan realized that there was a lot to clean up. He asked if we could help the people clean up their trees that lay in their yards. I didn't realize how serious he was until he asked me again after school. He was ready to put on his goggles and Lowes apron and go help...right now. In his words, " We'll get our goggles and aprons on and we'll help clean up one yard and then we'll go to the next until it's all cleaned up." I'm so proud of him and his desire to help others. Unfortunately, with three small kids it's not that easy to just drop everything and go help. So we've tried to come up with ways that we can help them. Because we don't have the tools or muscle to move these tree limbs out of their yard I've promised Ethan that as soon as we see people out working to remove the trees we will go help unless we come up with a better idea. Thanks Ethan for being such a great example!

Don't Mess with Texas

As most of you know, in Texas, we are fortunate enough to experience the forces of nature. NOT! It is the season of thunderstorms and tornados and very early Thursday morning was no exception. Now when I first moved to Texas my experience with severe thunderstorms like this and tornados was nil. I remember sitting at work and experiencing my first Tornado Warning. If you can picture a "deer in headlights" saying "What?" "Excuse me!" Fortunately, over the years I have learned more about them and some safety tips. Thursday morning around 330am I was awakened by some rain and very strong winds. The weather man had indicated we had a chance of some severe weather in the middle of the night. I knew when I heard the wind blowing that this was a little different than just a severe thunderstorm. I woke Woody up and we looked outside to see pouring rain, heavy winds and constant lightning. Shortly thereafter we heard the tornado sirens going off, which means take cover. Yippee! So we gathered the kids and went to the bathroom with pillows and a mattress. The power had gone out so we lit a candle and waited it out in the bathroom. Needless to say it was a looooong night! I don't know what time it was when we finally got back to sleep. I am grateful that everything at our house was all right, including our dog Sage who weathered the storm. I know that our Heavenly Father was watching over us. We've seen lots of damage nearby from tree limbs snapped off, trees split in half or uprooted and even parts of buildings torn off or wrapped around other things. Here's a picture of some of our neighbors down the street with large trees branches in their yards. Ya know, they say everything is bigger in Texas. Well Texas, you can have your tornados...I won't miss you when I'm gone!

Construction 101

Recently I started packing in preparation for our move. Believe it or not I do actually have some boxes packed! We needed to get some paper to wrap the breakables in and Woody brought home this big box that also had some large padded pieces of paper. They are probably used for protecting fancy artwork, which we don't have. :) So, Benjamin found another use for it...building his first home. He had so much fun rolling around in it and hiding underneath it. I couldn't help but to chuckle and think of a homeless person making their home out of paper or boxes. Surely he doesn't think he's homeless at the age of 2 because we're moving!? He's such an explorer.

The Dos and Don'ts of Fashion

Alys is the only girl in the family and is very much a girly girl. As a Mom, I've always wondered how much of girly girl she would be having two brothers around. She loves to dress up and changes her clothes all time! If this is a sign of what's to come...I'm in trouble since she's not even quite 4 yet. Anyway, I didn't actually realize how fashionable she was until one day when we went to the store. It was Alys, Benjamin and I. After dropping Ethan off at school I stopped at Target to get some items. I had gone to the gym that morning before they got up and had not had the time to shower and change yet. Thus, I was still in my workout attire. As we got out of the car Alys informed me that I could not go into the store looking like I was. My T-shirt was not something to wear into the store. Little did I know that going to the store in my workout clothes was a fashion don't. Now here's how Alys looks when we go to the store.