Fun Day!

Saturday was a rare day when Russell was home with us. He tends to work A LOT! :) We played inside until it warmed up, then we headed outside. I took Brody toys outside to play with BUT all he wanted to play with were Bentley and Russell's big toys. He loved the dirt bike, Gator, scooter, and Russell's race car. AHHHH!!!! He laughed and giggled the whole time. Bentley decided to climb in the trees and ended up with poison ivy :( Overall it was an excellent day:)

The Storm Has Passed :)

So earlier I wrote about bad weather. I am so glad to say it came and went!!! Lots of rain, wind, and lightning but no damage here. There was an outbreak of tornadoes throughout a few states and a few in Alabama. But we are all safe and I am the only one still awake. I was keeping an eye on the weather so everyone else could get some rest :)

On a different note, due to weather and school closing early, I didn't get to go to Dr. Seuss Read Across America Day :( But we love to read around this house so I was going to talk about what we are reading now...

Bentley and I are reading Alice in Wonderland. We try to read classic chapter books. Bentley is also reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid by himself. I am reading Love & Respect and my Bible. Russell just likes to read his magazines ;) And Brody and I have been reading a book about Animals!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!!!!!!!!!!

Stormy Weather

Tonight is supposed to be bad weather. Strong winds, large hail, possible tornadoes :( I have never really been scared of bad weather. That was until April 27, 2011. Of course that was when the terrible tornado tore through our town destroying so many businesses, homes, and lives. It was also a time of giving, helping, and loving our neighbors. So many businesses and schools were closed for days after so my friend Crystal and I volunteered for days. It was very sad and very rewarding at the same time.

This takes me back to when I was about 9 or 10, we were at home listening to the weather because it was supposed to be an ugly night. My dad was always our "weather guy". He would keep us updated with any changes, etc. He should have been and could have been  a meteorologist. He and I would sit outside and watch the winds blow and the rains pour, and we would have our cameras trying to catch the perfect lightning stike. That particular night I remember we were sitting outside on the porch and it was eerily calm. The sky had a green tint to it. We had the radio set to listen to the weather. All of a sudden we hear them shouting on the radio to take cover immediately! We had no storm shelter and no really safe place to hide. We all jumped in the car and drove as fast as we could to our neighbors storm shelter. As we were driving the wind picked up so quickly. I remember my dad trying to keep the car steady. The rain started coming down so hard we could barely see. And the lightning was striking so close to the ground. We got to Jeff's and everyone jumped out of the car and as we started running to our cover, one of us turned around and saw a strange spinning cloud in the distance. We ran in and closed the door and all huddled up together. We sat in there for what seemed like an eternity but was actually only about an hour. We heard lots of noises but was unsure of what exactly was going on outside. After a while when everything was calm, we stepped out and by the grace of God, only a few trees were down. Houses were still intact and our family was still intact. The tornado had not touched down. I can still to this day remember thinking how blessed we were.

Now everytime I hear possible tornadoes, I get a little queasy. I worry now because I have my boys to think of. I have two precious lives that I am responsible for. And they mean EVERYTHING to me!!!! I take that role very seriously!!! As I am typing this I get the text that county schools are closing at 12 due to possible bad weather.  Very scary and saying a prayer that all will be ok tonight. Below are pics from the April 27th tornado that ravished our town...

                        Hung out at this gas station many nights with friends when I was in high school:(

 My old roommate,Kelly, and I would eat here EVERY night. They knew us by name and had our food ready for us :)

Another One Bites the Dust

At church Wednesday night Bentley kept wiggling one of his teeth on the top. Loose! Loose! Loose! He wouldn't let me pull it :( Well he comes home from school yesterday with a tooth-shaped necklace around his neck and his tooth in it!! He pulled it himself!!! Tooth #8. My baby boy is getting soo big :(   The tooth fairy, Roy, came last night as well. Bentley left him a letter and a quarter and Roy left Bentley a letter and $2. It was all good.

Church Work Night and Housewarming

Tonight was Teacher's Work Night at Cottondale. So Karen, Brody, and I went and worked in our Sunday school classroom. The Mingle's served spaghetti, salad, adn garlic bread. It was delicious! Brody was a big helper in our class. He wiped off the board for us. Too cute!

After work night we went to Christina Proctor's housewarming. She is opening a clothing store, called Tina Marie, and she will be living in her store. It is a beautiful house and she is so creative and talented. It was a great night!

Sign Language

I have a tendency to sign as well as say certain things to Brody, such as, more, finished, stop, etc. Brody has picked up on them!!! I think that is so impressive and so precious! He gets a little crazy with "finished" but you get the gist. I have read research about children who are taught sign language early on have much better language skills the older they get. I guess I still have some habits from working at Sprayberry because that was the only way to talk to some of those children. Anyway, I would love to go a little further in the training for it. It is such a great skill to have!

Guitar and Scriptural Reading, and Ice Cream!!!

Yesterday was storytime at the library for Brody but we didn't make it because Brody slept in until 9:30am!!! Wish I could have slept that late! After school Bentley had his consultation for guitar lessons and he did great!! He learned a little about the letters and strings and got his own notebook with guitars all over it and his name(he loved that) :) I found a lady, Bonnie Fields, who gives the lessons through PARA but we are meeting at her house in Vestavia. He will start going on Wednesdays at 3:15. I think Bentley needs creative outlets and he is signed up for swimming and I am checking around for an art class as well.

After lessons we went home and ate pizza for supper then headed to church. The young men led the church tonight with the singing, scriptural readings, and small sermons. It was great! Bentley read Matthew 5:3-12 and read like a 12-grader. I am so glad he enjoys reading and wanting to take part in activities such as these. I want my boys to be great men of faith. He had so many people come up to him and tell him what a great job he did and it made him so proud of himself, which is most important! After church, Bentley went to get ice-cream with Mimi and Pawpaw so Russell, Brody, and I went to get a milkshake from McDonalds. Brody loved it and did not want to share!!! I just love these moments with my family and realize daily that I am so blessed.