Tornadoes in February

Yesterday at around 2:30 Toby called me from work and said "You might want to turn on a news channel". So I did and they had tornado warnings all up and down Oklahoma. At that time the tornado touched down at Chuck E. Cheese and Target about 15 miles from here. It tore off one of the walls of Chuck E's and damaged Target and Hobby Lobby. Thomas was at school and the school was on lockdown, so I couldn't pick him up until about 4:00. The girls and I hid in the closet and waited for the storm to pass. These are some pictures I took with my cell phone after I thought the storm was gone.These clouds turned into the tornado that touche down less than a mile from here.This is the hail in the grass.Here is Abby holding the biggest piece of hail she could find.This morning we went looking for things to take pictures of. This is where the tornado touched down less than a mile from our house. They are repairing a few (like 8 or 10) telephone poles that were knocked across the road. This is in our neighborhood. It used to be a trampoline.

Lots of fences blown over.

If you can see it well enough, the first fence in this picture was torn up and thrown into the next yard behind.

If you would like to see more pictures there are many at http://www.koco.com/slideshow/weather/18686325/detail.html . That is where you can find bigger hail pics and a great picture of all of the telephone poles across the street nearby.

snow days!!

The first week of February we had our first Oklahoma Ice Storm. First we got freezing rain which comes down wet and freezes on everything. It was really pretty but very slippery. Here are some pictures of ice on grass and a tree.

Thomas got his very first experience with missing school for snow, so we went outside to play in the "snow". ( It was actually just freezing rain and sleet.) Toby pulled the kids down the street and sidewalk on the sled. He ran really fast and when he turned a corner the kids spilled out of the sled and laughed and laughed. When Toby got tired, Thomas gave it a try.

Molly really seemed excited to go out, but once we were out, this was her expression most of the time.
She did enjoy looking at the ice on the plants and bushes.We took a walk down to the duck pond where there is a small hill and let the kids ride the sled a few times.

Molly really enjoyed her first ride all by herself. Then Thomas wanted to ride with her and they had a rollover and Thomas ended up on top of Molly. After that she didn't want any more of that.
Tears and a little blood on the lip and nose, poor baby!!

Visit from cousins and new dress-up cabinet!!

After Christmas, Alyssa and the kids came to visit for a night. It was really fun to have them and the kids had a great time together! We loved getting to see Alyssa, too. We love her very much!Katelyn, Thomas, Marin, Ryan, Molly and Abby.Our girls dress up stuff was overtaking the toy room and spilling out of the cardboard castle it lived in. So Toby decided to build a new dress up cabinet for all of us!! This is the stenciling and decoupage (sp?) castle pictures on each side. I was in charge of the sides of the cabinet and Toby did the rest!

Here is the whole cabinet. The drawers were fust purchased at Wal-Mart and toby built the cabinet to fit them. Behind the door is a rod for hanging dresses and hooks for necklaces. The castle pictures on the door are also decoupaged.

He really did a great job on it!!!

Abby turns 5!

For Abby's fifth birthday we opened presents at home. She loved everything. If the saw the word "Disney" on it she would say "I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it's Disney!!". It was really funny because almost everything she got was Disney. Here she is with all of her presents: Cinderella dress and tiara, princess castle alarm clock, Cinderella and Prince Charming barbies, a Cinderella card from Aunt Mitzi, and a princess book and pretty shirt from G&G Christensen.Molly LOVED Prince Charming.

After Abby opened her gifts, we went to Chuck E. Cheese just to play games. I should have known before, but now know for sure to never go there on a Saturday afternoon. It was PACKED.

After a little fun at ChuckE's we went to Applebee's for dinner. Abby got to pick the restaraunt and she had been looking forward to it all week. I am very happy that she was not at all disappointed that they don't sing at this particular Applebee's.

Christmas "Vacation"

So for Christmas 2008, we took a road trip to North Carolina. It is about 16 1/2 hours each way. so we took two days out and 2 days back. It was a long trip, but also alot of fun. On our way to NC, we were staying in Nashville, TN. While addressing Christmas cards I discover that some old friends live very near Nashville, so I called them. We ended up going to their home for dinner before we got to our hotel. It was wonderful to catch up with them and hear how well their kids are doing. In between the Allan's home and our Hotel, both Abby and Molly fell asleep in the car. So, we finally get to NC and my whole family is going out to dinner that night. Most of the kids sat on one end of the table, but Abby loves hanging out with Uncle Joe, so he was kind enough to let her play "dress up Uncle Joe" all through dinner.

Another part of our adventurous trip was helping my parents move into their new house 2 days before Christmas. Needless to say, there was alot to do and the kids kind of had to keep themselves busy. Molly was often found pushing around this cart that she found somewhere among the boxes.

On Christmas Eve, we got to put up a tree, so the kids were in charge of the decorating of the tree. They had fun hearing about the significance of all of Grandma's ornaments. Abby's favorite was the one Grandma bought the year Abby was born.

The kids playing with cousin Robbie in the huge backyard.
There are two of these holly berry trees in the new frontyard, they were really pretty among the leafless trees of winter.

The kids had some presents to open when we got back from our trip. Toby's family sent some packages while we were gone. This "My Size Barbie" was one of Abby's favorites.
I found some gingerbread house kits on sale for 25 cents each, so the kids decorated one each while Molly napped. That was a nice quiet afternoon.

I don't have any pictures, but we also visited my friend Maggi and her family on our way home. It was great to see them again, and thank you again, Maggi, for lunch on the road!!!

Molly the princess

Molly brought a pair of Abby's princess dress up shoes to me and then stuck out her feet as if to say "put these on me Mommy". So I did and she can actually walk in them, it is pretty funny to watch. I guess her little chubby feet make the front just tight enough to not fall off!

gingerbread house

This is Thomas' gingerbread house that he made at the school Christmas party. They made them out of graham crackers with emptymilk cartons inside for support. I think he just wanted to pile on as much candy as possible so that he could take more candy home to eat!