Massive storms ripped through the area last night. The girls had spent the night with Mom and Dad, and Bobby was at the fire station, so I was home alone. When I went to bed, I called Bobby and told him to call me if I needed to go to the basement. That's the advantage of a having a firefighter as a husband!
I woke up around 2:15, with wind absolutley pounding the window right next to my bed. I went to the living room to watch the news, and I had left the living room windows up a little. The whole house sounded like a train was coming through. I closed the windows, and laid on the couch and waited for the storm to die down. The dogs were highly unconcerned; I'm glad we have two laid-back dogs and not ones that freak out in this kind of weather. I surveyed our area this morning, and the only real problem is the swing is knocked over.
Talked to my mom this morning, and the girls and my dad slept through the whole thing! Some of the neighborhoods in my school district were hit pretty hard, so a bunch of kids are gone today. I have two right now in my 3rd hour!! Houses are ripped apart, houses ripped off the foundation, walls are missing, etc. Pretty scary pictures. Our house appears to be built very well, and for that I am thankful. A lot of those houses that are destroyed are newer, and that makes me wonder about the level of construction.
They are saying it was hurricane level winds that came through, not necessarily a tornado. Funny to think about, considering we are MILES away from a body of water!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Weekend Post #2--Dance Recital!
In no particular order are some pictures from the girls dance recital yesterday. Every other year the classes all have the same costume, to save on expenses. Every other year it is professionally video-taped too, to save on expenses. Macy's tap and ballet class did the song from Lazytown, Kaylin's preschool class did Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Macy's tumbling class did the Limbo song. I don't really have any pictures from the actual dance; it was dark in there, and we were not allowed to use a flash. I have a few, but they didn't turn out that good. The ones I've put here are sufficient to show what they looked like. I was impressed with Macy--she improved quite a bit from last year. It was obvious she knew the routine, which last year looked questionable. Kaylin was cute--at this age, you don't expect them to do much up on stage. They both loved it,and all night talked about wanting to go on stage again. I guess we have little performers on our hands!! 
And here's the video. Not professionally done, so no complaints to the videographer. (Bobby) The video is 5 minutes and 52 seconds. I edited out all the other dancers, so you are only watching the girls. We taped a lot of the other classes for the girls to watch, but I figured you'd be bored by all that. :)
And here's the video. Not professionally done, so no complaints to the videographer. (Bobby) The video is 5 minutes and 52 seconds. I edited out all the other dancers, so you are only watching the girls. We taped a lot of the other classes for the girls to watch, but I figured you'd be bored by all that. :)Sunday, April 27, 2008
Weekend Post #1--Firefighters Convention
Friday afternoon we dropped the girls off with Bobby's sister, armed with water balloons and ready to have a good time (thank you Carmen and Kelly for watching them!) and then Bobby and I headed to Branson for the state firefighters convention. The chief was paying for our hotel and food, so our only expense was gas (which was bad enough!). We had a great time--we were with a fun group of people. There were over 400 firefighters and their spouses/significant others from the state of Missouri. Some of them acted like overgrown frat boys. Apparently some people never grow up.
Saturday was the annual fireman muster, or competition. I've blogged about it before. Kearney's team did okay, taking 3rd and 4th in the barrel fight, but not placing other than that. Some teams take it VERY seriously, practicing all year around. West Plains is one--Dad will be proud!! Kearney threw together a team that had never practiced before, so they did well considering.
This is the bucket brigade. The key is to get a rhythm, and they never really did, which hurt them. I have no desire to ever do a bucket brigade; your arms hurt so bad afterwards. I will not be joining a woman's team to participate.
This is the barrel fight. The two Kearney teams were just plowing over the competition, and we thought it would be them in the finals together. But then they had to switch sides, and both ended up losing and playing in the consolation bracket. They settled for 3rd and 4th. As soon as they switched sides, we knew they were in trouble. Can't mess with what was working! Bobby is the last one, holding the hose.
Here's a closer picture of him. Still hard to see his face because of the equipment.
I like this picture because you can see how close we were to Table Rock Lake.
I took a bunch of "artistic" photos, and am thinking of making some sort of collage out of them. This is his helmet and coat.
Here's the whole crew who competed. None of them had ever done this together, so it was an interesting experience.
Saturday night they had a banquet, and you could tell who had been at the competition: every last one had bright red faces! Probably 200 people with matching burnt noses and cheeks, some worse than others. I wore a v-neck t-shirt, and now have a bright red triangle on the middle of my chest.
The highlight of the evening was the keynote speaker--Yakov Smirnoff!!! I've never heard him before, and he was absolutely hilarious, mixed with the right amount of sentimental firefighter laying down their lives angle. He received an instant standing ovation. Brought along his mother and kids, which was cool. He recently received a master's in psychology, and is teaching some classes at Drury and Missouri State. It was worth the whole weekend to see him.
After the banquet a bunch of us went go-karting. One of the junior firefighters--age 14--got kicked off the track before the first lap was complete for bumping others. He will never live that down!
We left Branson at 6 to come home for the girls dance recital. I will put pictures of that up tomorrow--even with wireless high-speed, my laptop is being slow. So look for pictures tomorrow of my divas!!
Saturday was the annual fireman muster, or competition. I've blogged about it before. Kearney's team did okay, taking 3rd and 4th in the barrel fight, but not placing other than that. Some teams take it VERY seriously, practicing all year around. West Plains is one--Dad will be proud!! Kearney threw together a team that had never practiced before, so they did well considering.
This is the bucket brigade. The key is to get a rhythm, and they never really did, which hurt them. I have no desire to ever do a bucket brigade; your arms hurt so bad afterwards. I will not be joining a woman's team to participate.
This is the barrel fight. The two Kearney teams were just plowing over the competition, and we thought it would be them in the finals together. But then they had to switch sides, and both ended up losing and playing in the consolation bracket. They settled for 3rd and 4th. As soon as they switched sides, we knew they were in trouble. Can't mess with what was working! Bobby is the last one, holding the hose.
Here's a closer picture of him. Still hard to see his face because of the equipment.
I like this picture because you can see how close we were to Table Rock Lake.
I took a bunch of "artistic" photos, and am thinking of making some sort of collage out of them. This is his helmet and coat.
Here's the whole crew who competed. None of them had ever done this together, so it was an interesting experience.
Saturday night they had a banquet, and you could tell who had been at the competition: every last one had bright red faces! Probably 200 people with matching burnt noses and cheeks, some worse than others. I wore a v-neck t-shirt, and now have a bright red triangle on the middle of my chest.
The highlight of the evening was the keynote speaker--Yakov Smirnoff!!! I've never heard him before, and he was absolutely hilarious, mixed with the right amount of sentimental firefighter laying down their lives angle. He received an instant standing ovation. Brought along his mother and kids, which was cool. He recently received a master's in psychology, and is teaching some classes at Drury and Missouri State. It was worth the whole weekend to see him.
After the banquet a bunch of us went go-karting. One of the junior firefighters--age 14--got kicked off the track before the first lap was complete for bumping others. He will never live that down!
We left Branson at 6 to come home for the girls dance recital. I will put pictures of that up tomorrow--even with wireless high-speed, my laptop is being slow. So look for pictures tomorrow of my divas!!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Field trip again...
Whew--long day yesterday. 2 other advisers and I took 60+ students down to Columbia for our state competition. We met at 5:30 am--students armed with all sorts of coffee products from Quiktrip, Starbucks, McDonalds, and their pillows and blankets. I don't think they slept, though. My cell phone died about 30 minutes out of KC--it was strange to be without it all day. I am so used to having it! At least the kids couldn't text or call me--we had to add more text minutes on our plan because of the amount of texts they send me.
It rained the whole way to Columbia. The bus has emergency hatches in the roof, and they leaked. Every time we hit a bump, you'd hear a girl squeal as water was dumped on her. The windshield was so fogged up the bus driver had to wipe at it with his handkerchief! The front steps and dashboard were covered in water. It felt like a rain forest in there.
The day turned out well--students competed in journalism contests, got to roam the beautiful campus, and we received many awards. It was a fun day.
The bus ride home was much drier. He called back to the school while we were there, and they will send the bus back to the manufacturer--it is brand new with 4,000 miles on it. It should not be leaking like that!
Tying up some loose ends this morning, then we are off to Branson for the weekend. The big dance recital is on Sunday, and I'm sure I will have a ton of pictures to show.
It rained the whole way to Columbia. The bus has emergency hatches in the roof, and they leaked. Every time we hit a bump, you'd hear a girl squeal as water was dumped on her. The windshield was so fogged up the bus driver had to wipe at it with his handkerchief! The front steps and dashboard were covered in water. It felt like a rain forest in there.
The day turned out well--students competed in journalism contests, got to roam the beautiful campus, and we received many awards. It was a fun day.
The bus ride home was much drier. He called back to the school while we were there, and they will send the bus back to the manufacturer--it is brand new with 4,000 miles on it. It should not be leaking like that!
Tying up some loose ends this morning, then we are off to Branson for the weekend. The big dance recital is on Sunday, and I'm sure I will have a ton of pictures to show.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
2 is plenty...
Yesterday a good friend's husband had an emergency appendectomy, and so I ended up with her 3 kids for several hours until their grandpa could come get them. It was not a big deal; I know she would do the same for me in a heartbeat, and I was happy to help out. But I am also happy that I only have 2 kids. 5 kids under the age of 6 was a handful. I can't imagine having 4 or 5 kids. 2 is enough for me!! :)
Oh, and Bobby had a call at 2:30 am this morning--a turkey hit the windshield of a chartered bus, and almost went through the windshield. People in the front rows were treated for some glass scratches, but that was it. The bus was full. Seriously? A turkey in the windshield of a chartered bus?
Oh, and Bobby had a call at 2:30 am this morning--a turkey hit the windshield of a chartered bus, and almost went through the windshield. People in the front rows were treated for some glass scratches, but that was it. The bus was full. Seriously? A turkey in the windshield of a chartered bus?
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