You never know what spring in Texas is going to bring.  We have had a heavy snow in April before (granted it was back in the 70’s or 80’s), we’ve had hot spring temperatures. We had a spring last year with very little rain and this spring we have had a record breaking amount of rain.  The one constant we count on in Texas are the storms.  And, its the one thing that makes me want to move out of this state! I am scared to death of tornadoes!! I keep telling Jonathan that if he wants to keep me in this house until we die, he needs to have an underground storm shelter put in the backyard.  I”M NOT KIDDING…if I had a spare $5,000-$10,000 I would have a company out here tomorrow digging a giant hole in my backyard, that’s how terrified of storms I am.  I hate being at home alone (especially at home alone with the boys) during a storm…even without a tornado threat. But when there is a chance of tornadic (is that a word?) activity, I am petrified and better NEVER be alone!

Last week we had a horrible tornado outbreak in the DFW area.  There were several cities hit and hundreds of homes destroyed.  I believe the total is up to about 17 confirmed tornadoes that day and by the grace of God, not one fatality. There were so many stories from people during the storms but the one that struck me the most was the story of the grandmother who was in the bathtub with her grandson and two other children she was watching. She was in the neighborhood not too far from our house that was hit and her house was destroyed (the only thing standing was just one portion of a wall).  She had her grandson in her lap and during the tornado she could feel him being pulled into the air and she was holding onto him by his ankles.  The most intriguing part of this story was that when her neighbors came out of their house to help her after the tornado, there was no bathtub in sight.  She and the kids were in the bathtub but it was no where to be found.  They don’t know if they flipped or if they were flung from the tub or what – it was gone! We will never know the mystery of the bathtub, but they were all alive and only had bumps and bruises.  Truly a miracle!

This story hit me so hard because the day of these tornadoes, my mom was at my house watching our boys, only a few miles from where this happened.  Both Jonathan and I were at work and she was by herself with our boys keeping them safe.  She did a great job and she is truly a stronger person than I would have been – I would have been balling like a baby if I was in the middle of all that!

The boys did remarkably well. They are still so young that they had no clue what was going on. They just thought that grammy may be a little crazy for making them play in the bathroom with their toys and wouldn’t let them out. Needless to say they didn’t get a nap that afternoon and were pretty cranky that evening. They were both up for a while around 1100 PM that night, from what I can only guess would be over tiredness and maybe they felt some of the stress from the day.

Luckily we didn’t get hit with the tornado or get any wind damage, but we did get quite the hail storm.  We had hail almost the size of a softball, but not quite that big.  We have a lot of roof damage, including a hole that went through the roof and into the decking.  So wel need a new roof and possibly new gutters, but other than that we are all okay.  Thankfully my mom had parked her car in our garage or she may have had some massive hail damage.

The thing I keep thinking about is that this is just the beginning of spring – we have a whole tornado season to get through! My stress level is going to go through the roof.  Since the storm, I have had several dreams nightmares of hiding from tornadoes and watching houses being destroyed – I don’t sleep soundly anymore.  I can honestly say it is enough to make me move – but then you see how colorado and ohio are having tornadoes too – you aren’t safe anywhere.  I hear Scotland doesn’t have tornadoes, maybe we’ll move there.  Make room Thomas and Olly, we’re coming to Scotland!

This is the hail we had that hit our house:

And, here is some of the roof damage we had:

At this point, since apparently Jonathan isn’t going to get me my storm shelter (I’m going to have to talk him into it!) all we can do is pray that we get through this season with no more tornadoes and I don’t get anymore gray hairs than I already have from stress! Amen

The warmer weather means we get to play outside.  Our boys love playing outside – especially Hayden.  When Hayden wakes up in the morning one of the first things he does when he comes into the kitchen is walk over to the back door to go outside.  My parents had a slide at their house and they gave it to us so the boys are learning to climb up the ladder and slide down.  Of course, they want to climb up the front of the slide so we are trying to teach them the correct way to get to the top of the slide.  They also like to swing and play with the bird bath we have in the back yard.  The other day it was in the 70’s here so we were able to play outside for about 45 minutes after I got home from work.  And of course, that gave me ample time to get some video of the boys.  So here is a video of the fun we had…its about 5 minutes long but I think the best part of the video is close to the end when the boys are interacting with each other.

We are in for it! The last few weeks Ian has been giving us a glimpse into the terrible 2’s…can it start as young as 15 months?! Wow….my sweet Ian has been turned into a toddler all of a sudden.  Example #1 – all because he didn’t get his way – one minute he was standing right next to me, the next minute, he was lying on the ground crying, partially screaming.  Example #2 – he didn’t want to go to bed, so he throws his head back and arches his back and cries/screams. But the best part was when he would quiet down in between screaming – when I wasn’t looking! Little booger would cry when I was looking at him, and when he realized I wasn’t looking, he would stop.  The second you give him what he wants, it’s all over as if nothing happened.

Well, this momma doesn’t play that game! The boys will learn that If I said no, I meant no, and screaming isn’t going to change my mind.  Also, if I can’t hold them this very second because I have to hold their brother who just smacked his head on the wall, they will have to wait. Even though I know this will mostly likely result in one or both of them throwing themselves on the floor and crying.  I am only 1 person

Then there’s Hayden…Jonathan was in their room putting their PJ’s on while I was fixing dinner and all of a sudden I hear this yelp, and it wasn’t from the boys.  Hayden bit Jonathan’s foot – hard! The boy has like 12 teeth, so he can bite down. He bit Ian’s finger one day…but in Hayden’s defense, Ian put his finger in his mouth.

The boys have also been trying our patience lately…just to see what they can get away with.  We have started using time-outs with them after they get 3 warnings.  Since they are 1, they get a 1 minute time out.  By doing this, we are hoping they learn cause and effect and that their actions have consequences – yes, we are starting them young, but that’s the best time to start.

I’m sure this is just a glimpse into what we are going to go through when they are older, but I’m ready for it!