Kitchen Help

Not once, but twice this week Brayden has decided that the refrigerator needed to be clean out.

Flashback

Despite the fact that we have two sandboxes in our backyard, Preston always loved digging in a little patch of dirt right outside our bedroom window and still loves to play there. He would spend hours there just playing in the dirt. One day he came in and told me he found a big rock. He had actually dug all the way to the foundation.

The other day I went out back to check on Brayden and there he was in the exact same spot. There must be something special about that dirt!

Welcome Home

Back in December we lost Brayden's elephant Elle. A few days ago Madyson was sitting in the lobby at school, looked in the office window and there it was. I wish I would have had the video camera when I gave it to him. He gasped and then got a huge grin on his face and gave it a big hug. I asked him if I could hold it and he yelled "NO" and squeezed it. He isn't quite attached as he used to be which is a good thing but he's happy to have Elle back!

Hardworker

There is nothing this kid loves more than doing yardwork. I hope it lasts!

The world from his view point

Todays conversation with Preston:

Preston: When I grow up I want to have a job that makes lots of money. What job make lots of money?

Mom: I don't know what do you think

Preston: You know the freeway where you sit in the little box. I want that job. Thousands of people drive by and they all give you money so I would have tons

He ages well!

Preston just celebrated the 100th day of school! All of the kindergarten dressed up like they were 100 yrs old! We were excited to find a hat like the one Granpa Jolley always wears. Alyssa came over and showed off her age too. Preston took his walker to school and was the hit of the class. The teacher ended up taking pictures of all of the kids with the walker. Here's what we have to look forward to in another 93 years!

Where did that come from?

Tuesday I spent the morning playing outside with the kids. It was beautiful. At 1:00 I took Preston to school and put Brayden down for a nap. I noticed that it was getting darker outside around 2:00 but didn't think much of it because I knew we were suppose to get some rain. About 2:30 I was watching something we had recorded and heard a funny noise. I asked Trent if it was the sirens and he said it was just the TV. A few minutes later I told him to look outside and sure enough the tornado sirens were going off.

Tornados are rare in February so we didn't think too much about it but turned on the news. We were shocked to see that a tornado was just a few miles away and the kids schools were on lock down. I hurried and called my sister to make sure she knew her kids would be back at the school. Then our power went out and after a few tries I finally got here on the phone. She immediately asked if we were in our safe spot. I told her not yet and she got more anxious said it was heading right for us and we needed to get a helmet on the baby and get to our spot fast. As I was running around trying to grab what we needed she was getting more and more anxious telling me it was getting closer. She started yelling that it was at the cross streets of the kids school almost to our house and then my phone went dead. I ran outside and yelled at Trent to get in the house. He looked at me and said "we're fine, I just saw and heard it go by", yes he stood out on our deck and watched the tornado go through the neighborhood across the street from us. We just stood there for a minute in shock and then ran to the car.

As we headed for the school to make sure the kids were okay it was all a bit unreal. The first moment I felt panic was when we turned the corner towards the school and all we saw were emergency vehicles and flashing lights. As we got a little further, I was relieved to see that the vehicles were not at the school. As we got closer to them we were shocked at what we saw. There were trees everywhere, fences blown down, walls and roofs torn off houses and power lines down.

The school was packed when we got there but the administration did a fantastic job. They knew exactly where all of the kids were and got us to them quick. The kids were a bit shaken and scared but did a great job of staying calm. We had planned on picking them up and heading home when the school announced that another storm was 10 minutes away and was on the same path. For a minute I had no idea what to do. We called some friends that have a basement and were not in the path of the storm and made plans to head there. It was a bit scary on the way over because traffic was horrible and the wind had picked up again and the golf ball hail was hitting the car. We were all just hoping the window wouldn't break. We finally got there and started to relax a bit. The kids began to play and that really helped take their minds off what had happened. Our friends graciously let us stay the rest of the evening and made dinner for us. We are so grateful for their kindness.

We headed home at 6:30 and still didn't have power so we ran to Wal-mart and bought battery powered lights for each of the kids and then headed back home for our camp out. About 9:30 the power came back on and we were very relieved.

The next morning we drove around to see the areas that had been hit. In the neighborhood across from us about 54 homes were damaged and 6 home were destroyed. The neighborhood across from the school had many homes damaged. Just east of us several businesses were destroyed. In Edmond about 150 structure were damaged. We have friends and ward members who suffered damage in the storm and feel very bless that we had no damage. This is definitely the closest call that we have had since moving to Oklahoma and hope it remains that way.

This is the neighborhood across from us. There were houses that were completely destroyed but they are in the backside of the neighborhood and it is gated:

This is the neighborhood across the street from the kids school:

These are the businesses that are just east of our house:

Growing Fast

I was going to wait until Brayden was 2 for this post but he is changing so fast that I know he will be a different kids in a few months, so here is Brayden today!

-Wants to sit in the rocking chair in the morning and drink his milk but the the footrest must be out

-Loves to dump things out, clear them off, empty them out

-Wants to show his shoes to everyone

-Points and yells DA at every white SUV we see, even if we are riding in dads car, with dad

-Covers his eyes when we are saying prayers

-Hates to be covered up with a blanket

-When we drive by a lighted sign he points and yells num num (I think we have been eating out a bit too much)

-Yells ow every time he sees a knife or scissors

-Says ha ha when he sees any kind of fire, flame or candle

-Wants to carry the lighter around when we light candles

-Loves to sit in front of his heater after his bath

-Loves hot minty flavors and always wants gum

-Likes to dip his food - ranch, salsa, ketchup,

-Loves playing outside especially in the sand and water

-Tries to sneak into the boys room so he can climb up onto the top bunk

-Will nap for about 1 hr in his crib and then has to be held for the rest of his nap

-Hates getting in his car seat and gettin his diaper changed

-When he will lay down to get his diaper changed he lays with his head in my lap

-Stand in his crib when he wakes up and yells, mom, mom, mom
-Is always trying to swipe everyones toothpaste

-Likes to sit in the dryer when I am trying to do laundry

-Points to the trampoline and bounces up and down when he wants to go jump

Words

Mom - no mama or mommy just matter of fact Mom

DaDa - Dad

Ma - Madyson

But, Bat, Bet - Has a few variations for Preston

Aut - Austin

Hep - Help

Mo - More

Ca - Truck, car, airplane, motorcycle - every vehicle is a Ca

Zoosh - Juice

Uh - Up

Uh-huh - Yes

Ow - Out

Do - Door

Num Num - eat, food

Ba - bath

Bah - ball

Ha Ha - hot

Nooo- No

Dog Dog - Dogs and any other animal he sees

Day do - thank you

We love this little guy!!!