Friday was a little crazy. It was going to be our last day before Spring Break (yea! I "made it" an entire 9 weeks!!!) and found out when I got to school that there was going to be a 12:30 dismissal because of predicted weather. A local news outlet published this picture, saying it was taken between 9:45-10 a.m. Friday morning.
The school I teach at (and school my four children attend) is about 1.5 miles past that overpass. Of course, I had no idea what was going on. . .we were in our weather safe place. . .yea, that was fun. . .a class of 27 or so 7th graders plus an additional dozen kids maybe?
Actually, they were really, really good and the storm blew over and we all went back to class.
Or, that was how it was *supposed* to happen (in my mind). In reality what happened was parents started picking their children up from school. . .every 15 seconds or so there was another announcement for (insert 3-10 names) to come to the office for dismissal. It became impossible to teach. And keep track of who was in school. Lunch was moved up, our early dismissal was moved up. . .by 12:10 the building was clear. There would not be another group of storms coming through until about 5:30 p.m. I grabbed this picture off Facebook. . .it was taken several miles from our house between 5:30-6 p.m.:
There was some damage done (no deaths) but it was a scary time for our community. Tom had texted to warn me of the storm approaching -- he knows I don't monitor the weather, ever -- and then our neighbors with a basement texted and asked if we'd like to come to their basement. We had to text because for some reason none of our cell phones were making out-going calls. So we headed 1/2 mile down the street and the adults stood outside watching the crazy weather. We didn't see anything like this but the lightening was fierce and the silence a little unnerving. The power went out about 6 and we headed home about 7. . .after checking in on people we know who live a little further north, where this picture was taken. We heard of one report of a carport being picked up and landing on the neighbor's house (think I saw a picture of that on FB too) but knowing our friends (and our neighbor's family) were safe was praise-worthy.
We headed home (Tom had come straight from work to the neighbor's) to no electricity which the kids love because they love, love, love getting candles out. The older kids and I played Rummicube by candlelight:
When they got home we had a restful, relaxing afternoon/evening. . .the kids watched Netflix, Tom and I took a nap. . .not too bad. Thomas made peanutbutter pie and I experimented with some ingredients I bought at Sam's Club earlier in the day. . .shrimp, pasta, and Asian mixed vegetables saute in butter and olive oil, seasoned with pepper and Tastefully Simple's seasoned salt and Parmesan cheese. The kids were picky (as in, I'll pick out this and pick out that) but it was easy. Afterwards we turned off all electronics and played a rousing family game of Uno followed by Payday.
See Thomas's book sitting on the corner of the table? He's become quite the reader. . .
We didn't end up with a winner. . .with six people playing it took longer then usual. Especially with all the laughs we had between turns :) A fun night. . .and with a game like this you really see some personalities coming out. . .those that won't borrow from the bank, those that end up up-side down on their deals (Margaret!). . .and watching three of the kids set aside money as soon as they would get a bill. I'd like to think they learned that from example -- Tom is such an excellent money-manager for our family :)
Right now there is another hot game going on:
This is how most non-school-day mornings start with these two. I think they have their own set of rules and everything. It's fun to listen to.
Onward and forward into Spring Break!!! Time to get ready for church. . .Tuesday my dad is coming to visit. . .he'll leave Friday and the Bells will come. . .wish my mom could make it down with one of them too. It will be a full week. . .filled with relaxing don't-have-to-get-anywhere mornings. I miss those from our flexible schooling days -- ha!
Love,
Jenni
The school I teach at (and school my four children attend) is about 1.5 miles past that overpass. Of course, I had no idea what was going on. . .we were in our weather safe place. . .yea, that was fun. . .a class of 27 or so 7th graders plus an additional dozen kids maybe?
Actually, they were really, really good and the storm blew over and we all went back to class.
Or, that was how it was *supposed* to happen (in my mind). In reality what happened was parents started picking their children up from school. . .every 15 seconds or so there was another announcement for (insert 3-10 names) to come to the office for dismissal. It became impossible to teach. And keep track of who was in school. Lunch was moved up, our early dismissal was moved up. . .by 12:10 the building was clear. There would not be another group of storms coming through until about 5:30 p.m. I grabbed this picture off Facebook. . .it was taken several miles from our house between 5:30-6 p.m.:
There was some damage done (no deaths) but it was a scary time for our community. Tom had texted to warn me of the storm approaching -- he knows I don't monitor the weather, ever -- and then our neighbors with a basement texted and asked if we'd like to come to their basement. We had to text because for some reason none of our cell phones were making out-going calls. So we headed 1/2 mile down the street and the adults stood outside watching the crazy weather. We didn't see anything like this but the lightening was fierce and the silence a little unnerving. The power went out about 6 and we headed home about 7. . .after checking in on people we know who live a little further north, where this picture was taken. We heard of one report of a carport being picked up and landing on the neighbor's house (think I saw a picture of that on FB too) but knowing our friends (and our neighbor's family) were safe was praise-worthy.We headed home (Tom had come straight from work to the neighbor's) to no electricity which the kids love because they love, love, love getting candles out. The older kids and I played Rummicube by candlelight:
It was certainly an exciting way to begin Spring Break!
Of course, as always, after a storm comes a beautiful day :) Marie headed off with Tom to her first ever lacrosse game:
Neither of knows anything about the game but as I'm sure I've mentioned before her select soccer team didn't "make" this season (not enough families to commit) so this was second-choice for her.
This is a club team that we just happened upon. . .I think they just started up this spring. A couple of high school girls are coaching and a mom of one of the players seems to be managing. It's a middle school (grades 5-8) team.
They traveled about 1.5 hours away for this game. . .Tom said that it was "interesting". . .they lost by a lot, but all the girls got a chance to play. . .and it was their first real game. . .
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| Marie is front left inserting her mouth guard |
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| Tom said she did well on defense :) |
Right now there is another hot game going on:
Onward and forward into Spring Break!!! Time to get ready for church. . .Tuesday my dad is coming to visit. . .he'll leave Friday and the Bells will come. . .wish my mom could make it down with one of them too. It will be a full week. . .filled with relaxing don't-have-to-get-anywhere mornings. I miss those from our flexible schooling days -- ha!
Love,
Jenni
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