After The Storm, The Sun Will Shine Again

Yesterday was terrible! As I watch the news, I still can not believe we lived thru something like this. What an amazing loss of life. I wonder if I will ever lose this lump in my throat. I am overwhelmed!

Just to let you know what we experienced, we were "flying blind" which may have been the best thing for us. We lost power around 2:30pm. It really wasn't raining then, but we had a bad storm pass thru earlier that morning. That storm weakened a tree, so when the wind picked up, the tree went down.....on a power line. We were without power until 9:30pm, so we missed any and all tv/radio coverage thru the worst of the storm.

When the tornado hit Tuscaloosa, Davis and I were in the bathroom (our safe place) because another tornado was heading towards Oneonta. At that point, the only form of communication we had was cell phone. My mom was texting James Spann updates, and we could follow Facebook updates. As soon as we heard that a terrible storm hit Tuscaloosa, we lost cell service. We knew nothing except that 1) it was BAD and 2) we have students that we love as if they were our own living there. Terrified could not even describe the feeling that we had.

So there we sat. The longer we had no communication, the more panic began to set in. Where did these kids go? Are they ok? What is happening next? Are there more storms coming? Are they coming here?

Around 9:00, we decided there was nothing else to do, except go to bed and continue to pray. We laid down, and around 9:15, our sweet friend Linda was here checking on us. She had been calling and texting since earlier in the afternoon, and when she had waited as long as she could, she came over to check on us. As soon as Matt opened the door, the power came back on (I didn't realize she was such good luck) We still had no cell service, but we could communicate via Facebook.

We were able to check on those students in Tuscaloosa. I saw post after post "We are safe! No power - but safe" But then I saw the post that shook me to my core.

CJ Hubauer
House is gone but im ok

It was at this point, I lost it!

CJ is Terri's son. Remember Terri - my best friend in the entire world?
My friend that:

I spend my holidays with



I run races with



That loves my child as if he were her own



Shoot - she even paints my toenails!



That friend!

Her child lost EVERYTHING and I had no way to contact her! My stomach was in knots!

When daylight came, I had cell service. I am sure you know the first phone call I made. I will not go into CJ's story - but it is remarkable! Maybe one day I will share - maybe one day I will let CJ share. But - Matt, Terri, Jonathan, Mark and Jill are on there way to Tuscaloosa to help CJ put some pieces together and bring not only CJ home, but lots of other students that have no power or no home or no way to get their car out. Please pray for this family and everyone involved. Today is going to be a sad, sad day for lots of people, but especially for those that I love!

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10



Matt and CJ in Seattle, WA

A Developing Sense of Humor

Davis has developed a love for the art of telling jokes. Please notice I did not say Davis has mastered the art of telling jokes.

I just had to pop in and share the top three of the day.

When does an astronaut eat? At launch time

Where does a cow go on vacation? Moo York

Why do dogs not drive cars? They can't find barking spaces

We have been home for the day because of some pretty bad storms that came in this morning and the promise of even worse storms coming in this afternoon. I am not a fan a bad storms, and my heart is heavy for those families that have lost loved ones, but I sure have loved spending my morning playing play-doh and telling jokes with my favorite buddy in the world!

Stay safe out there!

Happy Easter To All And To All A Goodnight!

Well......He came



And left a trail of eggs leading to the goods (yes Davis slept in a tent last night)







Davis found the eggs



And the goods......

A miniature helmet from each NFL team



A movie



Davis had to choose his favorite teams.....

The Steelers



And the Washington Redskins



We went to church



Davis got to ride in an Auburn golf cart with T - possibly the highlight of Davis' day



After church, we headed out to Mark and Jill's (and Carter's) for lunch and......

Spending time with friends





Playing baseball





Hunting eggs









And back to baseball with Carter




It was a wonderful day! But we are exhausted. Matt got up super early to go to the Sunrise Service and since we have been home from the Sims, they have taken my dad to the ER in Birmingham. They have admitted him to CCU and my mom is on her way to stay here with us and we still have homework and a bath to take care of. But I must exclaim as I dash to pick up the mess "Happy Easter To All And To All A Goodnight!"

'Twas The Night Before Easter

Here we are.....the night before Easter. We had lots to do today....things like....

Dying Easter Eggs









Taking Easter Eggs out to dry











Choosing the perfect carrots for EB (easter bunny)



Writing a letter to and drawing a picture for EB







"Dear EB, I like you. DAVIS"

Listening to the greatest story ever told



Praying, unprompted from mom or dad, from the overflow of my heart "Thank you for dying on the cross for our sins"

And now......we wait......



Just like those disciples over 2000 years ago, we are not sure what we wait for. Our "tomorrow" may hold another baby. Our "tomorrow" may hold Davis as an only child, and we will praise God for giving us that one precious gift. Our "tomorrow" may hold buying a home. Our "tomorrow" may hold staying in this rented home forever and being completely satisfied in that. Our "tomorrow" may hold lots of things that we have planned, or it may hold lots of surprises. But we may be like those disciples and have no idea what our "tomorrow" holds, and it could change our lives forever! But whatever our tomorrow holds, we hold on to this thought:


Whatever happens...whatever you see...
Whatever your eyes tell you has become of me
This is not the end...
I am making all things new again

This Is How It All Began....

Spring Break - that is!

Spring Break 2011 got off to an amazing start! The Kindergarten teachers decided to have a picnic on the Friday that started Spring Break. It was so much fun! Normally they have Kite Day - and boy am I glad they changed for Davis' Kindergarten year! I couldn't fly a kite if my life depended on it! So.....here are some of the things we did that day

We spent some time eating lunch with some of our favorite friends Mrs. Wendy and Ethan (Mrs. Wendy took that picture...so sad she is not in this pic)



Played Football



Scored a touchdown



Ran with friends




And made memories that will last a lifetime!



And obviously got a little sweaty!

A Very Special AR Reward

In Davis' Kindergarten Class, they are rewarded for every ten books they read and test on. Some examples of the rewards have been:

10 books: Lunch with A Kindergarten Friend - Davis chose Ethan
20 books: Skip Naptime - a VERY big deal to Davis
30 books: A trip to the school store where Mrs. Anderson will buy you a treat - Davis chose a pencil gripper, a pencil and other "school stuff" (that was Davis' response when I asked him because I could not remember)
40 books: sit with another grade friend at lunch - that brings us to today.

Now most Kindergarteners would choose a 1st grader, maybe even a 2nd grader. Mrs. Anderson said on occasion there have been some 3rd graders. Well, not my child that has spent his life around teenagers! He chose an 8th grader. Not just any 8th grader, a very special 8th grader, Carter Sims.



Let me tell you a little about Carter. Carter comes from a very special family, that we connected with immediately when we moved here in 2004. Carter's Dad and Mom, Mark and Jill, just kind of "took us in" and we have always felt very much a part of their family. We have laughed with this family, cried with this family and sometimes just sat in silence with this family (usually after something Carter has said) Mark and Jill have an older son, Travis, that is the cream of the crop when is comes to teenage boys. This young man is studious, caring, a great baseball player, polite, kind, handsome, almost too good to be true! I very vividly remember sitting in the balcony when Travis was in the 6th grade, telling Travis I hoped Davis grew up to be like him. Little did we know, Davis would grow up to be like Carter instead.

If Travis is all about business, Carter is all about fun! He is that kid that is so funny without really trying to be funny. They tell me when Carter was little, he was always dressed up as something. My friend Terri's favorite outfit was one summer day well over 100 degrees, Carter was in a huge Panda suit head and underwear. (if you know Davis very well, you know that sounds like something he would do) Here is our latest Carter example, when Mrs. Anderson began working this out for Carter to come to lunch, we told him the time, and he said "Oh - I am in Mrs. Ford's math class then" Mrs. Anderson emailed Mrs. Ford, they worked everything out between them, and Mrs. Ford was quite impressed. Well......Carter is not in Math at that time, he is in Music and Drama. (if you have Facebook you know that sounds very much like Davis.....remember yesterday's status update "Today was the day I finally relented and let Davis choose his clothes for school......Yesterday was was the day Davis forgot to bring home the letter saying today was Spring picture day......what are the chances?!?!?!")

Long story short, Mrs. Anderson worked out all the kinks, and Davis had a very special lunch visitor. Here are those two peas in a pod!



So a great big thank you to Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Towns! You have made my child's day. And I think Carter was pretty excited too. His words were "YES - I get to eat TWO lunches!" Bless his heart - most people don't even eat one!

And by the way - I LOVE the way all the other kids are looking at Carter! But he was not at all concerned about that - he was just worried if his legs would fit under the table!

It's All About Perspective

As most of you know, we had to take Davis to the ER yesterday for stitches. What started out as a happy little family Easter Egg Hunt ended in tears.

Davis and my niece and nephew were hunting eggs at my parents house.....well, before I go on, let me remind you all that I have a competitive streak a MILE long and somehow this has been passed on to my sweet, laid back child. So - back to the story - Mason, Kate and Davis were hunting Easter Eggs at my mom's and my mom started giving hints..."If you know what H2O is - you can find an egg" So off go the older two towards the water hose. Davis starts running towards the other two, not exactly sure what H2O is, but running as hard as his little legs can take him. He just HAD to get that egg before them. Now let me also be clear about something else....the eggs were empty. Davis was not racing for candy....just racing for the fact of having the most eggs. Wow - he is SO much like his mother!

At some point, Davis trips and falls onto a concrete paving stone and the edge of that stone gashed his arm open. Now I really feel like a terrible mom because I was not watching (as if I could have stopped him from falling - but I feel bad none the less). You see I was taking pictures of the eggs. Matt's job was to hide the eggs. Now I may have a competitive streak a mile long, but Matt has a sense of humor a mile long. So I was capturing these little treasures hidden in the most random of places like a light fixture, the water hose "thing" on the camper, the clothes line, etc. I hear a commotion, hear my nephew say "OOHHH" and then I hear it. That sound a mother dreads. That cry that starts in the depths of your child's soul and overflows into a terrible sound. That kind of cry that you know....something bad is wrong. Davis comes running to me, we find a terrible hole in his arm, run into the house, clean off the mud, check for more cuts and head out the door for the ER.

Let me say up front the emergency staff at Jacksonville Hospital are TOPS in my book. Our Doctor was Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable (from The Cosby Show) in the flesh. He was the most precious man and SO good to Davis. When he came in, he asked Davis what happened and Davis began to squall. Not so much about the cut (but he was pretty upset about that) but because he was convinced that when he fell and his basket spilled, that Mason took some of his eggs. Wow - he is so much like his mother!

The doctor reviewed lots of options.....he could glue it, but he was afraid he would not be able to clean it out as good as he needs to and he was convinced it would start bleeding again before we got to the car. He also wanted to do x-rays because he was not comfortable with the way Davis' elbow looked. He felt the best option was two stitches. Radiology came to take x-rays and Davis was very interested in seeing his "skeleton" Then Doctor Huxtable came back in and showed Davis each and every x-ray. It was such a precious time.

Then the fun began. Davis had to lay back and let them work their magic. It was an interesting thing to watch as a person, it was a terrible thing to watch as a mom. As I watched Dr. Huxtable clean that out, I wanted to SCREAM at him to stop. But that would not have helped Davis, so I just watched those big blue eyes so fearful, yet so brave! He was such a big boy - not quite the ending he would have chosen, but he was so brave anyway! And by the way - it took four stitches instead of the two he thought it would.

Sleeping last night was not easy, it was hard for him to get comfortable. Today was the Easter Egg hunt at church, and Davis was just too scared to go, he was convinced we would suffer the same fate. The stitches have started itching and at times, the pain returns. BUT - I have come to realize it is all about perspective.

This afternoon I was reading a blog written by an acquaintance and I realized - wow! she complains an awful lot.....her kids get up before 6:30am, her kids are sick, her house is dirty, her cabinets are bare, her throat hurts, etc. I realized...hmmm I deal with those things too. Then I read a blog by a friend whose husband is battling cancer. She has a whole list of things to complain about - and she was rejoicing about being able to be home for Easter! (they are in Texas for Dave to undergo treatment) - It is all about perspective.

So - I can complain that Davis has stitches - and we had to go to the ER - and he got blood on his shorts OR I can be thankful that:
This happened in the "fat" of his arm - if this had happened on his head or face - it would have been BAD!
We have insurance to cover our visit to the ER
We have a precious friend here in town that will be able to take the stitches out
I have an amazing husband that can change the dressings so I don't have to
We had the amazing and compassionate Dr. Huxtable - we could have had Dr. Frank Burns from MASH
We could have waited three hours at the ER in comparison to an hour and a half
Davis could have screamed the entire time instead of being so brave
I could have screamed the entire time instead of looking away
It only took four stitches and not eight
His arm could have been broken and not cut
My sweet brother texted last night to let Davis know that Davis had the MOST eggs - more than even Mason
Davis did actually sleep last night instead of staying up all night
And thankful most of all that this has been a learning experience for all of us!

I will share one picture from the night (not the one of the stitches - it is not for the faint of heart) This is the picture we took after we got home and cleaned up the wound. Look at the pitiful face!



Oh - and I can be thankful that we have only had one trip to the ER, four stitches, and one pulled tooth in that past 24 hours. My heart can't take much more.