one year.

April 27, 2011.

Started out as a completely normal day. Minus the threat of severe weather. 

As the day progressed, so did the weather. The kids & I spent the majority of the day bunkered down in the kitchen in our "safe spot".

I was okay until I got a phone call from my mom letting me know she made it home from work. I was glad she made it home......however she was locked out of her house. No power meant no garage door opener. And no house key. I had her spare. I was fine until I realized I had her key. My dad was in South Carolina. Colin was at boot camp so he had NO clue what was going on. I called the hubby at work and had him look at the weather to see if there was any kind of break in the storms. He said it looked somewhat clear, but didn't want me to leave the house. Instead, he wanted my mom to come to our house. I told him I was going to her since her house was a LOT safer than ours. So, I loaded up the kids and flew out to my moms. Seriously, I have never driven so fast in my life. 

Once we got to my moms, we brought candles & blankets downstairs into her basement for just in case. We decided to make some dinner......and then the hail started. I knew that was a bad thing. They always say that it hails before a tornado. We quickly finished what we were doing and went down into the basement. We could see the wind picking up out the back door. The hubs called to let me know that he made it home from work and that I needed to stay where I was. It wasn't long after that, that my cell phone died. And so did my moms. We had NO communication what so ever with anyone. Little did we know, less than three miles from my mom's house, a tornado touched down and completely took out a neighborhood. We didn't find that out until the next day.

I don't think anyone slept that night.

The next day we were able to really look at the damage. My mom & dad's pool was FULL of leaves, branches, chairs, and their American flag. Their USMC flag was still on the porch. The kids & I made our way home. Thank GOD everything at our house was still in tact. Minus the power. Nobody in northern Alabama had power. They were already saying on the radio that it would be at LEAST 5-7 days before power would be restored. 

The hubs told me to pack up clothes.....and pretty much everything was dirty!! We decided to leave. We didn't know where we were going......just that we weren't staying home with 2 kids (a 4yr old & a 3mo old) for a week with no power. As we were packing up, our neighbors were doing the same. We asked where they were planning on going & they had the same answer as us....."I don't know". So......we decided to make it a beach trip and head to Florida.

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So many people lost EVERYTHING in these storms. I am SO beyond thankful that my family & friends were all safe & spared from any devastation. My heart & prayers go out to all of those families who were affected by this storm (and the tornado outbreak earlier this year!). 

mom & dad's pool when i got to their house

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again.....

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their yard.

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again! can you spot the dogs!?

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the next day. this branch was impaled in the yard. apparently my dad had quite a time getting it out. he left it in there until colin got home from boot camp!

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furniture.

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what a mess.

photo a day{april12-15}

april12{stairs}

grayson was ready for a nap. he sat at the stairs and waited for me.

he's getting too big!

april13{something you found}

grayson found his cool shades in the car.

you never know what will pop up in the carseats!!!

april14{how you feel today}

these kids make my heart happy!

*we had a lunch date earlier in the week & found these CUTE dresses for the girls at old navy for DIRT cheap! jenny & i decided that for our family date night we would let the girls wear them! AND then jenny had the bright idea to dress the boys in their batman shirts :) they thought it was hilarious!

next family date night.......we WILL have our husbands wearing the same outfits!!*

april15{sunset}

today was kind of weird weather. one minute it looked like it was going to rain....the next it was sunny. so. we had one of the laziest sunday's ever. the blinds stayed closed. we stayed in jammies. and we watched LOTS of tv. so....i have no photo to share.

photo a day*march23-27

Massive photo a day catch up! Holy cow. Total craziness around here.....but in a good way. If that's even possible!!

We've been spending the majority of our days outside enjoying the beautiful weather.....before it gets TOO hot out!

march23{moon} totally forgot about this one! oops!

march24{an animal}

sometimes....i wonder about this dog!

march25{breakfast}

best part of breakfast......a nice cold cup of milk & a bobby helmet!

march26{key}

these two hold the key to my heart. oh how i love them!

march27{your name}

technically it isn't MY name......

.....but it's the names of the two most precious things in my life!!!

Holy Deja Vu.....

March 2nd felt very much like April 27, 2011.

The weather forecast the day before warned everyone of what was to come. I wasn't really convinced that the weather was going to be as bad as they had predicted. I wasn't stressing myself out over the possibility of no power, tornados, or hail. We had plenty f food & essentials for in case we lost power. The neighbor and I decided that we would play it by ear and if we needed to, we would take the kids to my parents house so we could hang out in their basement.

Our day started off with a bang. The hubby left for work & the kids & I got ready for breakfast. The plan for the day was to go to my hair appointment, stop at the grocery store, and then decide if we were going to my parents. That all changed in a heart beat. It wasn't even 9am before the storms started to roll in. The area that my parents live in got hit over & over & over. 

I decided that we wouldn't venture out there because 1 - I didn't want to get out there & the power be out. 2 - One of the main roads to get to their neighborhood was closed. and 3 - The thought of us being stranded out there without either of our husbands & 4 kids under the age of 5 just didn't sound like fun. 

There was about a 2hr break in-between the morning storms & the afternoon storms so the kids & I made a quick trip to WalMart to get some candles, water, & batteries. We were going to get lunch, but every fast food place between WalMart & our house was packed. I filled up the car with gas on the way home......another "just in case". When we made it home, the kids had lunch while I ran 2 quick loads of laundry, ran some dishes, and mopped the floors. Go ahead and laugh, but if we were going to have to bunker down on the kitchen floors, at least they were clean! And, if we had to leave like we did last time, we would have clean clothes to pack! The hubby got home from work just as I was finishing up all of my cleaning. Thank God because the kids were about to drive me insane!!! They were both extremely wild & energetic.......I blame the weather! Ava asked if we woke up with no lights the next day if that meant we get to go to the beach with Emmy...I wish! (we lost power for all of 2 minutes maybe!! thank the lord!)

Our TV stayed on the local news channel. We watched as storm after storm passed through and somehow managed to miss our area. We got VERY lucky this go round with the severe weather. Seriously. We didn't get any rain, lightening, or thunder until after they said there was no longer a threat for severe weather. Thankfully, it only lasted maybe 30 minutes & Grayson slept right through it!! I guess it was around 7pm when things finally quieted down. 

My goal for next week is to make an "Emergency Box" to keep in our laundry room/pantry. I have an idea of what needs to be in one.....it's just getting out there & filling it up!! 

I am so thankful that we made it through the storms yesterday. And that all of our friends also made it through. Living in northern Alabama is quite stressful when it comes to the weather! You never know whats going to happen!!