Strawberries, Balls and Tornadoes

Since getting back from our trip to Utah, things have gone back to normal. But these pictures (and there are a lot, sorry) show . . . well . . . OUR level of normal. The first full day we were back, this is what happened to Dad when he walked in the door. They would not get off of him for a full five minutes at least. There were hugs and kisses and a lot of smothering.

Later the same day, Addie was so tired that she fell asleep while eating a snickers. Can you see it? I thought it was pretty darn funny. And it was a snack size snickers, so she really only had one or two bites before she couldn't take it anymore.

Tiredness was rampant those first few days after our long trip and Andres loves both his Aunty Kim and books.

I was in the mood for some Strawberry Shortcake and everyone wanted to help with the strawberries (because they're oh-so-helpful like that).

Andres basically pulverized his strawberry. All over himself and the floor. He made such a mess that when he tried to stand up, he did the splits. He thought it was really funny.

The finished product. Doesn't that look so good? It was.

One day when Andres was napping, Addie said she was going to the ball (like Cinderella) and I told her she couldn't go in her pajamas. So we spent the morning getting all fancied up to go to the ball. She chose dresses for both of us and then we looked through my jewelry (what little I have) and picked out some fun things. Then we did each other's hair and I did makeup (what little I have) for both of us.

These were Addie's choices for our "glass slippers".

Poor Addie. She loves to dress up and look pretty and do fancy things, and this is what she gets. Honestly, we're wearing the fanciest of my necklaces and using both of my only articles of makeup. I've realized I need to have more of that stuff around. I mean, we had fun and I don't think she knows at this point that her mom is pretty lame, but someday I'm sure she's going to figure it out.

Andres woke up in time to be our coachman

He was allowed a short break while Addie and I danced and twirled.

TORNADO in NORTH LIBERTY May 22, 2011

As we walked out of church on Sunday the Tornado Sirens were blaring. As we drove home, Jason got a message from the National Weather Service telling us that there was a Tornado Warning in our county and that we should seek shelter immediately. Jason was excited. I was not really nervous; I'd been through several of these in my lifetime and knew what to do. But it is a bit different being the mom and the homeowner. So we went downstairs and we made a fort (just for fun, it obviously was not much protection) and we were having fun watching the news and hearing what was going on outside. The wind was crazy and there was hail the size of eggs.

Jason did not think it was worth the effort to climb into our fort.

But look how cool it was - we could be all snug in the fort and still see the news!

This is where we moved the fort after a tornado had actually been sighted on the ground about a mile away from our house. This seemed more secure, and it was very cozy.

So we survived! And now we know a bit better how to handle the next one.