sammy the seal

Sunday night, I was getting ready to lay my head on the pillow. It was about 11:30. I heard a cry and thought, "Uh oh...!" {Maggie has had a nasty little cold since Friday.} I went in to check on her and she had a fever and wasn't a happy camper! Thank goodness for Ibuprofen. She slept all night but was super fussy the next morning. The mom in me knew it was her ears. :( Eric took her to the doctor for me and sure enough, she had an ear infection! But, on top of that, she was wheezing and they put her on breathing treatments. Insert picture of Sammy the Seal.
How cute is that??! Her little breathing machine is a seal. She calls it a dog, but, whatever makes her happy. Ha!

She has done so well with her treatments! I just adore her. Levi sits right beside her and "helps" keep her calm. She is feeling much better and we were able to retire Sammy tonight. Yay!

Speaking of tonight...how gorgeous is this weather?! We played outside and my nose got sunburned!!! That is crazy! I do have a funny little story to share about Levi. After we played outside, he had a nose bleed. He got pretty upset about it and I tried to assure him that it was something that happened to other kids, too. After he calmed down and his nose stopped bleeding, he said, "Mom, I have to tell you something." He told me that he was pretty sure he knows why his nose started bleeding. I asked him why and he said that when we were outside and he dropped some Skittles, he ate a red one off the ground after I had told him not to. Silly boy!!! He cracks me up! :-)

north and south unite

It has been almost two years since the day that Gretchen told me there was a possibility she was moving. In some ways, it seems like it was yesterday and in other ways, it seems like it has been a lot longer. People, this has been a rough road. I'm not gonna lie. I have cried my share of tears and gone through a mountain of emotions. I'm so blessed that along the way, we have been able to share our tears, laughter, fears, and, well, pretty much everything in between with each other. And, even though she isn't 10 minutes away anymore, God has blessed our friendship above and beyond anything I could ever have wished for! We still talk everyday and text all the time. I get to hear about all her new friends and she grills me about all the old. Plus, we get to do all these extra little things together that we probably wouldn't have done if she still lived here! Bonus!! It is neat that I am learning about the BG women. I really enjoy learning their stories. It is to the point now that when she says a name, I automatically know things about that person. One of these BG people is Brittany! When I got to meet her the first time, it was like going on a blind date!! I was nervous and just wanted her to like me. Silly!! But true. ;)
And from the first hug, I was hooked. I liked her immediately because she told Gretchen I was pretty because she was sooo sweet! So, this weekend, when we met up again, it was like picking up where we left off. I love that!! Brittany and Gretchen were in the Ville this weekend for a conference and Jami and I got to meet up with them Saturday night.

We went to the Melting Pot and ate some sinfully good food.

And we talked, and laughed, and talked, and laughed, and...well, you get the idea!

And, as I sat across the table, staring at my bestie, I realized that life doesn't get much sweeter than this! Two groups of people, coming together and becoming one big group. And what is a better way for a group of girls to bond than over a hot pot of chocolate, caramel & marshmallow creme melted together with oreos sprinkled on top??! Yeah, it doesn't get better than that!!

After our dinner, we went to gawk at Pier 1. I do have to tell you that Jami and I bought some wicked cool canisters for our kitchens!! We are both getting ready to re-do our kitchens (Jami in blue and me in yellow) and the canisters go with both of our kitchen ideas. We had W.A.Y. too much fun in Pier 1. I'm sure the workers were worried a tad bit! After shopping, we headed back to my house and gabbed some more. I wanted to stay up talking a little longer, but Gretchen is old and was tired. Something about only sleeping two hours the night before...blah, blah, blah. ;)

Another great thing about the weekend was that the girls were going to church with me. Yay!!

It was really great to be at church with Gretchen...like the olden days. And, of course, it was awesome to show Brittany the hood. ;)

I FOREVER miss this girl...every single day. But, I am so blessed. Beyond blessed.

school on the weekend??

Levi has been missing his friends...BAD!! :( Poor guy. Every day, he asks about his school buddies and wants to know how they are doing. I don't really know how a lot of the kids are, but I know at least two kids in his class who lost their homes. So sad! They lost everything. Breaks my heart!

The kindergarten classes had a field trip planned on Friday last week to go see The Lorax. On Thursday, we got word that they were still going to go!!! Thank you, Jesus...Levi was sooo excited to see his friends! Eric took him and two friends. I got a text from Eric and he said "We are sitting on the very front row. I'm going to die." LOL!! The things we do for our children. ;) I'm so thankful Levi got to go and see his teachers and friends. I think it was really good for all of them.

On Saturday, one of the local churches was having a big' ol' honkin' play date for Henryville Elementary students! HOW NICE!!! My friends Natalie & Sarah were going, too with their kiddos. We couldn't believe how big it was when we arrived. They had 5 different bouncers, a Tumblebus, a bubble truck, and they were providing lunch!
Oh, and they had a hot air balloon, too!!

This picture of Kenzie looks like she is in pain, but I promise they were enjoying themselves! Ha!

This was such a great idea for all the kids! Levi kept seeing his classmates and it was so cute to see them chit chat together.

"Hey Hayden." "Hey Levi." "Did you know we had a tornado?" "Yep, and it hit our school." "I know. We don't ever have to go back to school now." "I know. Can you believe we are all done with school?" They were so funny!

I loved seeing all the worry just go away and watching the kids have a blast together.

OH, and this guy followed me across the parking lot. He wanted to interview me. Oh.My.Word. I tried politely declining. He was pretty persistent. He was from the local news. He wanted my story. I was praying he found more interesting people to talk to, because I REALLY didn't want to look like a big ol' goof on the news!

Unfortunately, I did get my 5 seconds of fame! I was on the news at 10 that night. But, they didn't say my name or show a lot of my ramblings!! I'm sure it was one of those, "Oh my gosh, that looked like Tracey!" things where someone wouldn't really know if it was me or not! :-)

Kenzie, Hillary & Levi....all Henryville Buddies! So thankful, again, for our community and everything they have done to help the kids!!

new recipe

I made a home cooked meal last night! Sometimes I just get tired of sandwiches and frozen dinners in the evenings and I break out a real recipe. This is one I found on Pinterest. Thought I would share. :))))

Combine:
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 packet ranch mix (dry)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Dip chicken breasts or tenderloins in sour cream and then coat in the bread crumb mixture. Bake on 425 for 25 minutes. Yummy!!!
Oh, and I thought I would share this little treasure, too! When you make your green beans, use a little bit of this...

A little bit goes a long way! For a small can of cut green beans, I use about 1/2 a teaspoon. Your beans will be soooo good!!!

My mother-in-law happened to stop by right as dinner was done, so I forced invited her to eat with us. We took the kids to McDonald's for ice cream after dinner. Funny story... On our way home, my MIL couldn't find her keys. She started to get a little panicked thinking she left them at McDonald's. She said, "Oh crap, I can't find my keys!" I heard a gasp and looked in the rearview mirror. Levi's eyes were as big as silver dollars! He said, "Mamaw, did you just say crap?" She apologized all over herself. {It is totally uncharacteristic for her to say crap anyways! It was soooo funny!} He said, "Mom, should we forgive Mamaw for saying crap?" LOL. We forgave her. ;)

sleep, monster jam, and helping henryville

Last night was the first night since Friday that Levi slept solid - all through the night. Since the storms, he had still been waking up a lot either talking in his sleep, or crying. On Sunday and Monday, whenever the news would show pictures of his school, he would cover his ears and look away. However, yesterday, he began to talk about it a little more. I guess everyone is different in how they deal with their feelings. I just have to let him do his own thing!
I will say that, at times, he is comical about it. He went to work with Eric yesterday, just for a break from being stuck at home. He told Eric that it was okay that his school was gone because he had learned everything he needed to know. "Dad, I know how to spell see... S E E, and I know how to spell like... L I K E, so I don't need any more school." Ha! If he only knew!

I did want to blog about this....

On Saturday, Eric and my brother, Travis, had already planned to take the boys to Indy. They were going to the Monster Jam again {Yawn!}, but this time it was "bigger and badder", in Levi's words. It was at Lucas Oil Stadium. I'm glad they got to go and have a great time!!!

I love seeing Levi spend time with his cousins! And, they do love each other so much. :) Makes my heart happy!

On Sunday, we had a b.u.s.y. day!! Our neighbor and friend, Todd, who owns Spin-Around-Sound that Eric helps with decided to host a donation spot for people to come and drop off items for the storm victims. He posted a little two minute video on Facebook. And, people, I cannot explain to you the emotions that chilled me to the bone on Sunday. I've never seen anything like it. His hope was to fill his two DJ trailers with food, water and clothing. The drop off was from 12-2, and before 11:30, his trailers were almost full. When I arrived at the middle school, the line of cars was wrapped around the parking lot and extended out onto the main road in front of the school. It was like the scene from Field of Dreams! If you host it, they will come. ;) Many, many people stayed to help load. We quickly saw that we would need more than two trailers, so people started contacting their friends to bring pickup trucks, trailers, and more! Then, they called the school to see if we could load buses. Below is a picture of what was STILL left to load AFTER we filled 6 school buses, 5 trailers, lots of pickup trucks, a large UHaul and a huge flat bed truck!!!

There were times when we were unloading cars and I would just start crying because I couldn't believe how many people wanted to help! They brought trucks full of diapers, baby formula, cases and cases of water, clothes galore, food, boxes of soap, toothbrushes & toothpaste. Our DJ guys and many other volunteers worked well into the night making sure every last bag and box was delivered directly into Henryville and Memphis. Several churches and the fire department were thankful for the donations. Eric said that as they were carrying boxes into the churches, families would walk up and graciously start taking arm fulls of stuff. LOVE this! Love that we were helping them directly. The guys also raised $6,000 in cash donations to go to help several local families. Amazing! I'm so thankful for this community. :)

the last 36 hours

I've been thinking all day that I wanted to blog, but I just didn't know what to say, or how to say it. I'm afraid that my measly words will somehow diminish what is going on in the communities around us. The last 36 hours have been life changing. My prayer is, and will remain, to God be the Glory.

I want to just share about my day. I think it will help to share while the details are fresh in my mind, although I can't imagine me forgetting them. Our morning started off as usual. Levi got on the bus to go to school and Maggie and I had breakfast. I had a list "Friday errands" but only one important one...I needed to get diapers for Maggie. I got my morning call from Gretchen and we both chatted about how the approaching storms were worrying us. We teased that both of us wanted to keep the boys home from school, but our husbands wouldn't let us. ;) Maggie and I ran to Sam's and got diapers and then headed back home for lunch. We got inside just before the rain started. I went ahead and put her down for an early nap because the severe storms were supposed to move into the area around 2. Around 1 pm, I was watching the weather updates and I started to get a little nervous and debated on whether or not I should go get Levi from school. I decided to wait it out. My neighbor, Natalie, called at 2:20 and said she and the girls were coming to our basement. It was getting dark outside and very, very calm. I had no idea if Levi was going to be held at school or if he would be home on the bus. She got to my house at 2:30 and said news reports stated that tornado activity was approaching Henryville and due to hit in 30 minutes. At this point, I couldn't breathe. My phone started blowing up with texts. My Dad got called out with the police and was monitoring the radio. He told me storms were approaching my house and Henryville. He was concerned about Levi. Natalie got a text from a kindergarten teacher and she told us the buses left early. I got in the van and took off for the bus stop while Natalie took Maggie and her girls to the basement. It was 2:45. The bus usually arrived at 3:12. The next 15 minutes were THE longest 15 minutes in my life. I saw the lights at the end of the street and I just prayed over and over that Levi was on that bus. When it stopped in front of me and I saw Levi and Hillary get off the bus, I started crying. He was shaking. He was so scared. He didn't understand what was happening. The rain started and it was picking up. I looked at the clock and it was 3:00. We raced back up the hill, hurried inside and got downstairs. I kept reassuring him that everything was going to be okay. We hunkered down in the only room without windows in our basement and my head was spinning. The wind was crazy! My Dad and Eric were both texting me. It was 3:08 and my Dad said there was a tornado that just hit Henryville. At 3:11, he sent another one saying there were sightings on the ground two streets over from my house, and one headed towards Borden and one in Memphis. We waited. The sun came out briefly and then round two hit. We got back in our little hiding spot and this time, hail sounded like it was going to break the wall down. Eventually, it passed, too. And the sun reappeared. Eric got home and I felt 100 pounds of weight lift from my shoulders. I knew if he was home, then we must be through the worst of it. As we started watching coverage, we realized how bad the damage was. The good thing was that the storms were breaking up and moving out of the area, but the devastation it left behind rendered me speechless.

Levi's school was destroyed. The footage of homes, churches, businesses that were also destroyed was terrible. I felt absolutely helpless for those around me. I wondered why we survived. And I sat there, listening to Levi's questions and just did the only thing that felt right in that moment...I held him close and told him how much God loved us and that there were going to be lots of people that needed our help in the near future. He was so concerned about his school. He asked me several times if his teachers were dead. He asked about his classmates. He was worried about his Papa being out there helping people. He was worried we would have to go back to the basement. He slept with us last night and was very restless. He kept waking up scared, still asking about his teachers. At one point, he woke up and said "Mom, I think 65 is shut down..." and rolled over and went back to sleep. Poor little guy! Even his dreams were consumed with the happenings of the day. :(

This morning, I opened my eyes, and just started crying. It was as if yesterday just caught up with me over night. My sister's friend lost her home. My brother lost a friend/co-worker. Tonight at dinner, my dad shared story after story of people's homes that looked like they were twisted into pretzels. He said it looked like an atomic bomb went off in some of the towns. As I drove home, I saw semi's and trailers with emergency equipment and supplies parked all over our town. I've received numerous emails from church members and staff and friends on Facebook are posting their stories...and even in the midst of a horrible, horrible day, there were stories of God's grace. Love. Courage. Over and over, I see people wanting to help. A community coming together to help one another. Churches rising up. And, my prayer remains...to God be the Glory.

the beloved calendar

I tell ya, I don't know what I would do without my parents and my in-laws!! They have been my saving grace while Eric has been in school. My mother-in-law is so good to come over during the day when I need her to watch Maggie, which is enabling me to do some volunteer work. And, my parents come over almost every Thursday night so I can go to choir practice. I always look forward to this because it is my little two hours out during the week just for ME. :)))) Last night, I got to choir, and another Downton fan brought me this book to look at...I was so excited!!! I wanted to break it out and start reading it during choir, but I was afraid I would get called out! ;)

Remember my cool Christmas present from Gretchen? My calendar!! I finally hung it on the fridge this morning. I know...it is March. Gasp. But, I'm slow like that. Here's the thing...it is big, which I love !!, but it is also very heavy. I had to put it on the side of the fridge and put 6 magnets on it, 2 of which are supported against the counter! How funny is that?!
I'm sure Eric will love it when he comes home. ;) Oh, and guess what????? YEP, I even got to mark a special day this month to see Gretchen and her Hoosier-loving-friend, Brittany!!! Woot! They are going to be in Louisville for a conference, so I am making them meet Jami and me for dinner. ;) Cannot wait! I'm sure we will all 4 blog about it!!