Where my mind's at

From the basement, when the tornado was between Tuscaloosa and B'ham.

Our power was restored a few hours ago.  We are so touched by the number of out-of-town family members and friends who have called and sent messages over the past few days to check on us.  

There were anxious moments Wednesday evening as they tried to track the tornado out of Tuscaloosa and project its path.  After a little while, the weathermen ran out of superlatives and started repeating themselves and sounding generally helpless and frazzled.  The eeriest part for me was when I noticed the songbirds coming down out of the trees and flying low along the ground.  

But the monster went 10 miles northwest of all of us comparatively rich folks who were hiding in our finished basements and instead hit a lot of people who had nowhere to hide.  

Yeah I was scared, and I still feel all out of sorts, but mostly I just feel guilty for feeling out of sorts when the worst I have to report is that four trees fell in the woods in our backyard.  We won't even have to have them cut up; they'll just add to the wilderness ambiance we already had going out there.

There is urgent need for water and blood, and plenty of organizations are registering volunteers, so it seems the best way to quiet my mind is to get the rest of me moving.

We're safe. No real damage. Just no power.

At GG's

We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter at GG's house on Saturday.  Talk about a beautiful place to be in the spring.  When I was setting up our family picture on Easter Sunday I kept thinking, I wish I had a yard that looked like Grandmother's for a backdrop.  

Uncle Tommy taught Owen about the different kinds of fish you could see swimming in the pond, and a foam baseball won out as the guys' choice item of sporting equipment for the day (with bubbles coming in as a surprise second).  Owen's favorite thing to do was to get hold of the ball and throw it into places where it was nearly impossible to retrieve.

... like in a tree or on the roof.  

I got some tips from GG about caring for roses.  We'll see if I can get results half this pretty next year.

Surrounded by the day's loot and holding a half-eaten snack, Owen passed out on the way home.

Note:  My apologies to the rest of the Stevens/Hamby ladies for not getting any of us in a shot.  Gotta work on that next time!

Easter

Friday night:  Dyeing eggs

Owen wanted the eggs to be all shades of blue.  Then the next day he told me blue was his old favorite color.  His new favorite is orange.  

My first attempt.  Isn't there some saying about being such a bad cook that you can't even boil an egg?

Saturday:  At GG's house (gets its own post later!)

Sunday:  Dressed up and hunting eggs

Oh yeah, and Happy Earth Day!

If security blankets were capes

Soap graffiti

Someone gave Owen these cute Peeps soaps for Easter last year, so I ferreted them away until the beginning of Lent this year.  Turns out they fit Owen's hands so perfectly he's inspired to write on the windows and mirrors with them.  No sooner do I clean an upstairs mirror than I find Owen has tagged the downstairs windows.  It's not making me too crazy.  I mean, my right eye has been twitching for two weeks, but other than that I'm good.

And then I get my favorite magazine this month and discover they condone this type of behavior.  The nerve.

Dinobunny

Owen's school egg hunt is today, and it occurred to me at the last minute that all the other kids were probably going to be wearing cute Easter outfits. 

So necessity is the mother of the dinobunny, in this case. I whipstitched a white pom pom to Rex's back side and cut some bunny ears out of masking tape.  Ta-da.  It ain't smocking, but score me some points for trying.

Bags and Bunnies

Owen had his first overnight visit with Mimi and Granddad this past Friday and Saturday!

The photo is semi-authentic.  It really was taken before we left on Friday, but 1) we don't leave by the front door and 

2)  Owen is lacking shoes.

When we were driving home from Mother's Day Out yesterday, Owen told me the Easter bunny had been at school that day.  I commented on how exciting that must have been, and Owen countered with:

But Mommy, the Eeeter bunny is very big.  Not like wegular bunnies.  

And Mommy?  I don't like bunny hugs at all.

Sweet Monkeys

On a prettier day at a good buddy's house.

We've got more storms cooking around here, so I picked Owen up from school early, and the plan is to go upstairs, snuggle under the covers and watch Toy Story 3 (until weather sirens force us to the basement).

To our far-away family:  You know I just love the drama of an impending storm.  Don't worry about us!

B & A: Owen's Bathroom

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I just realized the other day that I never posted pics of Owen's bathroom.  I think I was hoping for the day when I felt like I had it perfect, which is a day that won't come, so my subconscious just filed it in the dead letter office.  Does your mind have one of those?  

We had the soffit above the window removed and new lighting put in to brighten the place up quite a bit.  We replaced the sheet mirror with a pivot mirror so Owen can angle it down to see himself better.  Anything to entice him to brush his teeth, you know.  The wallpaper was removed, walls repaired and painted white (probably should have gone with a warmer white for those fab tiles...).  And I followed through with my threat to make wall art out of the "Happiness is dry pants" illustration.

Bored with this place yet?

Owen isn't.

What you could have overheard at our house last night

Pic from last week.  He dressed himself in all black and that same day asked if we found an empty 

swimming pool, could we skateboard in it.  Does this mean he's going to be one of those emo dudes?

O:  Can I have some cheese?

Me:  Not right now.  I'm unloading the washing machine and then I'll start dinner.

O:  But I want cheese right now-wuh...

Me:  No.

O:  But why?  Why can't I have cheese?  Why can't you get it for me now?

Me (gesturing to my armful of wet towels and using my best rhetorical tone):  What's it look like?

O:  It's yellow and it's cut into little line pieces.

Not smooth

I'm embarrassed to say that Owen eats cereal bars for breakfast every single day.  I give him other options, but I should have never let him start down the convenience food path.  Since it's a route faithfully tromped down each morning by Scott and me, I suppose it was inevitable that Owen would find it.

This morning, I had the spontaneous thought that I could win him over to smoothies if I played up their likeness to their milkshake cousin.  I went all out on the presentation, but I bombed the taste test.  It was bitter- I'm guessing because of the Greek yogurt I used.  I also added a banana, orange juice and a little agave nectar.  I figured if I could just get him hooked, then I could start adding kale, flax, protein, and other stuff I might find in the middle section of Whole Foods.  But I lost him at "hello".

So what's your favorite healthy smoothie recipe?  Where did I go wrong?

It's Masters Week

We remembered to put up the flag late Sunday evening.  Owen was already dressed in his astronaut jumpsuit, and we made the serendipitous discovery that he looked like one of the caddies (just like here). I love Masters Week, but mostly for it's "Hello spring! Goodbye busy season!" timing.  We've just about made it.

And the Guster concert last night was the most fun.  I smiled and danced and sang all the words just like a big loser.  For you Texans, they're playing Houston, Austin and Dallas in the next few days.  Go see them!

Storm brewing

Makes for nice kite flying, but Owen is already fretting.  And we're running off and leaving him (in good hands) to go see my favorite band tonight.  Scott likes them too, but he already has enough bands, so Guster is mine.  Here's hoping we don't spend half the show doing a weather drill.  Come to think of it, they do have one song that starts off with a Wizard of Oz reference...

(I've sort of figured out the picture situation, but still no luck on videos.)