Today’s Tornado Alley is on Overdrive

I stopped counting at 7 tornado’s today. These severe storms were well out of the danger zone as far as my area was concerned, but the news just announced that the entire west half of the state is now under a severe tornado watch till 1 a.m. tomorrow morning.

At one point near Orlando, Oklahoma (I didn’t even know we had an Orlando in our state) I saw two separate tornado’s on the ground within miles of one another. It was reminiscent of the famous May 3rd storm that hit OKC a few years ago. Thankfully neither funnel lasted on the ground for very long, but the clouds looked so dark and full that I was sure if they’d stayed on the ground…they too would have joined forces and could have done some major damage.

Pray that we’re done for the day, and the rest of our state can breathe easy. They’re still rolling up north, and I hope those dissapate and stay gone for the rest of the night. I pray the rest of the state won’t have to worry about storms in the middle of the night.

Every state has it’s weather calamities…California and earthquakes…Michigan and it’s freezing weather…etc… but it’s days like these that make me focus on reasons why I love living here…because tornado alley in overdrive is one big reason NOT to like it here.

Good Day

Does anyone else feel Spring in the air? YAAAAAY it’s the first day of Spring and I’m soooo happy. I feel that today is the first day of a lot of rebirth and growth in my life.

It’s funny how a little breeze with a warm sun can make you feel so full of life. These are the days that I am so thankful to God for. Even though I know each day, whether warm or dreary, are days to be thankful for….secretly these nice days are the ones I revel in.

My spirit is at peace today with the wind howling through the buildings and trees. I’m serene when I hear birds chirping in the sky, as long as none of them poop on me! Seeing kids out with their families in play is such a sign of good times ahead. It’s so depressing to see no activity outside, because everyone’s stuck indoors…..but NOT today! Can I say YAY again?

Now I get to plan my garden! Anyone else want to leave an AMEN??

Spring Rain

So this morning, in the  middle of the night, it sounded like my roof was being pounded by softballs.  I’m pretty sure we had hail and then some.  It’s been raining and cold all day, which has made everything soggy and frigid.

I’m all for a  Spring Rain…but what happened to Spring?  I know it’s not ‘technically’ spring…yet, but come oooonnnn lets get a warm rain going.  It feels like the dead of winter.

Is anyone else going crazy with all this winter still hangin on?  It’s making me cranky!  How’s that for an uplifting daily blessings blog post?  HA! 

40+ kids

So we had another day at children’s church with 40 kids. With all the sickness circulating, the other couple that teaches called in sick. Hence…we combined the both groups and my husband and I had to be really creative in captivating their attention.

I have to give my husband a huge KUDOS. After the lesson is taught, and we pray thanks for our snack and our fellowship, it’s time to entertain to keep their little minds and bodies from going crazy. That’s a really hard thing to do and it could be overwhelming for most people. It used to be to me…now it’s nothing. Especially when we promise even the simplest of rewards, like a hand stamp, for being good during our time together.

Toward the end of class, once the coloring projects were done and the kids got even more restless…my husband called them all over to line up at the wall for a game of heads up 7-up. I so did not remember this game, since I hadn’t played it since Kindergarten, but my husband has excellent recall and had all the kids captivated.

I only had to give one child a time out…for banging paper rolls over the heads of other kids. He sat quietly and peacefully and didn’t act up one time afterward. So he too, got a stamp on his hand for choosing good behavior once he was disciplined.

It’s been a great day. Other than children’s church we’ve:

**Played outside..as the weather has been beautiful this weekend. It’s been in the 60′s and 70′s this weekend. We’re under a tornado watch right now…but it is that time of year.

**We re-arranged my son’s room so that he has more play space and floor room.

**Played UNO.

**My son and husband are currently watching Nascaar…my son’s favorite new passion.

Now the evening’s winding down, and the weather’s cooling off (we’re expecting snow tomorrow). I hope your weekend has been as relaxing as mine and I wish you a great start to your work week tomorrow.

Happy March! YaY! Spring’s almost here!!!

POST NOTE….did I say Yay earlier?  This must have been before being glued to the television waiting to see if we were going to get mowed down by the multiple tornado threats.

Dear Lord, can we please skip all the tornadoes this season and get straight to warm spring weather?  Thank you.

I want Spring

Yahoo reports that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow…aaaaaaaaaaaaah! I am so chilled this winter and it’s not like we’ve had a horrible winter either. It’s been unusually warm with highs of 59 degrees or as low as in the 30′s. Still 30′s aren’t bad considering other parts of the country or world are 30 below zero, like Canada, where Coach Sauter is from.

Blazer’s Hockey Coach Sauter, interviewed in the Oklahoman Newspaper today, said this about the weather he’s experienced:

JC: So, what’s the coldest you’ve ever been?

DS: I remember one year around Christmastime, it was 40-below or more for 10 days in a row. Unfortunately one of our young cows … got stuck inside the bale feeder, and she froze perfectly solid.The only way we could get her out of there after the cold snap was my brother chainsawed her in two.

My husband who read this at the kitchen table this morning, busted out laughing. I knew in few seconds I’d get play by play commentary on what he was reading. And sure enough he told me about Coach Sauter’s childhood experience, watching his brother saw a cow in half due to freezing temperatures. He couldn’t stop laughing and blurted out, “That’s awesome!” Then he saw our son and remembered a four year old may not think it was so funny, so he quickly added in a voice that tried sounding caring…but couldn’t quit accomplish it through his laughter, “Poor cow!” He continued to giggle to himself.

My husband’s humor always amazes me. His story definitely put the weather in perspective though. Okay so 6 more weeks of winter….aaaargh! I’m ready for beaches, warm breezes, sunlight streaming through my windows, and color exploding through my gardens and world. Spring is obviously my favorite time, even with the threat of tornado season, but I’m going to have to find things I like about winter to last me the duration of this season.

Things I like:

–I love to wear my winter white soft fuzzy scarf, hat, and gloves

–The sunrise over the snow first thing in the morning

–snuggling

–hot chocolate

AAaaand, that’s about it. Anyone out there have any more pluses for winter so I can cure my winter blues?