Tornado Sirens

Our Memorial Day was quite memorable due to several tornadoes that formed within 20 miles of Sidney. One tornado even combined with another one and touched the ground. It grazed a shed, damaged part of a house, and left a path of refuse. Justin was remowing our shaggy lawn after one pass on a higher setting. He did not noticed the tornado siren or all the excitement with his music head phones and noise cancelling headphones on. I rushed outside with my camera to capture the baby tornadoes in the sky. Amelia and the boys were going nuts. Amelia was wailing because she thought she was going to die since she could not get in the basement by herself. Evelyn woke up from her nap once the siren started wailing. I grabbed Josie and an umbrella to get a better look at the tornado. We eventually got the kids downstairs and settled. Amelia stopped crying once downstairs. An hour later all was calm again. Justin finished mowing and I went to get food. Pretty exciting.

Amelia is recovering and healing in record time. She had a friend (or two) over everyday except Friday to entertain her. The first two days she made Lego movies with my old video camera and her girl Legos. By the end of the week she decided crutches were much easier to manage over the bulky wheelchair. She was done with the portable potty and sleeping on the couch. She had a nightmare on the couch after watching a creepy episode of Jessie. She slept the rest of the night on the floor in our room. Next day we switched her and Phillip's mattresses and beds. She now walks around with her left foot resting on her right foot or bends her left leg up a bit. Her post-op appointment is on Monday. She is hoping to get the okay to swim! The highlight of her week was a visit from Mrs Anne Belieu, her 2nd grade teacher. She came over with a gift bag and stayed an hour just visiting with Amelia. Mrs Belieu held Josie for most of the hour, she is welcoming her first grandbaby later this year so needed practice. Mrs Belieu made her a fleece blanket, brought several activity books, markers, and candy. Amelia tortured the boys by making them eat a Red Hot before getting M&Ms. Stinker.

A couple folks came and took Phillip or Everett for short play dates throughout the week as well. I worked on catching up with photo editing and keeping everyone afloat. I feel so drained emotionally and physically! Evelyn was quite enthralled to take a couple turns around the block sitting next to Amelia in her wheelchair.

Jen is coming over on Thursday morning now with a box of donuts then staying to visit for an hour. She loves to snuggle Miss Josie. Our family will miss Jen if she ever moves away. Her husband was part of the department that was laid off last week. A total of 170 folks lost their jobs with no severance offered. A newspaper in NYC ran an article about Cabela's closing on a deal with Bass Pro that will close the end of June. It will be interesting to hear what really happens with Cabela's in the next few months. Josie found her toes last week. I caught her sitting in her bouncy seat with both feet in her hands. She now plays with those cute toes most of the time she's awake. Josie is such a skinny baby, sort of freaks me out! She turned 4 months old a couple days ago. One of her favorites is to stand up with her chicken legs stiff as boards.

Friday evening was the annual KSID Crusin' Night. We loaded up the kids and drove up and down mainstreet 10-12 times with music blaring and kids hanging out of every window opening. At first all the kids were stuffed up the sun roof but a policeman put the kabash on that. Somehow the boys scored 4 flyswatters. They swatted those swatters all around for the rest of the evening. Evelyn was delighted to sit on Justin's lap and help drive us all home.

Saturday I tackled the basement disaster. While editing all the photos the kids ran the basement into smithereens. There was playdough, rice, toys, and kinetic sand covering every square inch of the carpet. Evelyn actually tried cooking on her play kitchen with chocolate milk (that of course spoiled), water, and dry cereal. That mess alone took me an hour to chip off. Justin tackled the garage disaster. After getting most of the basement cleaned up I helped Justin with the garage. It looks MUCH better.

I feel so overwhelmed lately that certain things are slipping off my responsibility plate. I lament the loss of my garden this year, I simply don't have time to get it prepped and planted. I did plant three tomato plants and two pepper plants. Guess that and the weeds will be our crop this year. This week I listened to my thoughts while I was busy editing yet another photo session. My thoughts were saying:

I don't have time for this. My kids are all on devices watching or playing something. I don't want my kids to remember their childhood with Mom chained to a computer and photos. I am not fulfilling my divine role as a mother. I want to do this because it gets me out of the home for a bit and saves my sanity. Seems like photos are the only things that stay done in my life right now. Is having an outlet that stays done so important. My house is a disaster. I need to pay attention to other things.

and on and on. So, I am taking a second look once again at my capabilities and availability with photography. Money-wise I don't make a ton of money so not sure that aspect is worth my time. I could save a bit more time to save money by making menus and couponing, etc. I am praying that the right answer will come to me.

Evelyn is acting like a little monster. She pulls hair, hits, pulls shirts, pokes, pinches, and acts like a little hellion. Time out works sometimes but not enough to change her behavior. Spanking just makes her mad and she hits me back. She had enough of the abuse from the kids and is taking matters into her own hands! We have a terrible whining curse in our home right now. Amelia is back to sea witch mode. Phillip whines and complains each time I ask him to clean something up.  Everett ignores me. Justin gets so upset when the boys ignore him, which is often. We need some obedience training. I had the brilliant idea born from Amelia's complaining. I am going to nail some boards together, add straps, and write "I'm bored" on the back. The kids will have to wear the bored backpack when they whine. Not sure how to get the boys to listen and obey. I have some ideas like sending them to Grandpa Lane in Saudi Arabia. He can leave them in the desert with camels.

Phillip came upstairs excited to report that a ghost stuck scissors in the wall and scratched up my desk. He said the family ghost somehow jammed the scissors into the wall while he was sitting in a chair. Hum, really?! Do I look that dumb? Phillip got a lecture on lying and telling stories. Funny and not funny at the same time.