I Was Not at My Best

For starters, I only have 1 pictures of tornado/storm damage, because someone took my camera :(  We were in the play place at Walmart, I set my camera down, and forgot to bring it with me.  Aaron went back to check and asked at customer service, but it was nowhere to be found.  Sad day.

Anyway, this is our neighbor's tree that got blown down.  We didn't have much damage in our area as the 2 tornadoes were in other areas of town.  

From what I read, only 1 person was seriously injured (and she should recover well).  And while there was undoubtedly millions upon millions of dollars worth of damage done to the university, the most important thing is that no lives were lost.  

Through this, I've come to the conclusion that I do not do well in a moderate crisis.

A regular crisis?  I'm your girl.  There will be a plan of action.  There will be good questions asked.  I will be the queen comforter and helper.

But, I don't do the moderate crisis thing well at.all.

Of which crisis am I speaking, you may ask.

We didn't have power for like 36 hours.

That is certainly not a major crisis.  I mean, I have friends who work at the university who were handling major crises with grace and calm and strength.  My lack of electricity doesn't even come close in comparison to what they were dealing with.

I would even say that not having electricity for around 36 hours is on the low end of the moderate crisis.  

The storm that brought the tornado, came to town probably around 11:00ish pm last Monday night.  There was a lot of wind and rolling thunder and flashes of lightning.  The tornado siren didn't even go off...likely because elevation of the tornadoes was so low that the dopplar radar couldn't detect them.

We lost power around then.

Maggie woke up from the storm.  She was crying, because she didn't think she could fall asleep without the fan on.  To be fair, it got pretty stuffy pretty fast.  We didn't want her to wake up Gracie with her crying, so she and I took turns playing Dots, my favorite time wasting game on the tablet.  

After a while, we tried to get Maggie to go back to bed, but she was pretty worked up, so she and I camped out on the couches.  I was awake for longer than I slept, so needless to say, that's not the best way to start a day that contains a moderate-low crisis.  

Aaron very sweetly walked to the gas station to see if they had coffee.

While he was gone, I started getting frantic about not being able to take a shower.  I mean, technically I suppose I could have taken one in the dark, but at that moment, I wasn't sure what the water situation was. 

I'm not even one of those people who has to take a shower every day.  So, in an act of desperation, I grabbed some baby wipes and wiped out my armpits.

I apparently have no shame seeing as I shared that bit of information with the world wide web, but that gives you a glimpse as to how well I wasn't handling this!

Plus, I can't possibly be the only person who has ever done that...fess up :)

Anyway, Aaron came back without coffee, but he had run into some neighbors, so he returned with news of the tornadoes' damage.  

He also grabbed a travel mug so that our neighbor, Larry, could make me some instant coffee!  He must have lit their gas stove with a lighter or something.

Larry even told Aaron that he added an extra half scoop of coffee to make it stronger for me. 

So super nice!!!

Thankfully, my parents were already planning on visiting us for the day, and they were already on their way!

Aaron and I walked around our neighborhood, checking out the damage.  

It was getting hot.

I hate being hot.

I reeeeeeeally hate being hot.

I mean, let's just say that humidity and I don't really connect.

The girls were getting bored with walking around when a dog started trotting after Gracie.

She flipped out, so I carried her for the rest of the way home.  

My parents had gotten into town by the time we got home, so the girls and I met them in the Walmart parking lot, while Aaron went to work.  Between the road construction and storm damage, I wasn't sure they'd even be able to make it to our house.

We headed out of town to my favorite restaurant which lived up to the hype :)

We walked around the river and had such a fun time!  We got cupcakes and explored the fun downtown mill district.

I called Aaron and found that there was still no power, but we headed back home anyway.  

After enjoying a supper of sandwiches, my parents headed for home, and we headed to our friends' house.

The girls happily played outside with Jaime and Amy's kids, climbing up and sliding down the awesome inflatable water slide.  I took an actual shower...ahhhhhhhhhh!

As we started to pack the girls up to go home, I got a text from a friend saying that it was possible that we weren't going to have power for another day or 2.

At that moment, I was done.

As in:  drop the mic...Becky OUT!

I called the power company to see if there was a timeline for when our power was going to be back on.  I was nice, because, you know, it's not their fault there was a tornado.  He said, basically, in 12-24 hours.

There was no way we were going to be able to sleep, so we decided that the girls and I would head to my parents' house.  Aaron wanted to be home to make sure our basement didn't get water in it due to another storm that was on its way.  

I turned into the focused, intense mom.

I tried to give the girls a pep talk along the lines of, "We're each going to pack 3 outfits and work together to get going as soon as possible!"

I failed to mention that the reason we were hurrying was because the sooner we got going, the sooner we would get to Nana and Papa's house and the sooner they would be sleeping.

Let's just say that they perceived the Mommy-in-go-time-mode as MOMMY IS FREAKING OUT AND I SHOULD PANIC!

Did I mention that I was wearing a headlamp?  Because I was wearing a headlamp.

this is an old picture

Soooooooooo, they also probably felt like they were being interrogated every time I looked at them.  

I wouldn't say that this was a recipe for success and harmony and happiness.

It was more of a recipe for crying and panic and dismay and crying.  

Oh, and crying.  

Did I mention there was crying?

I can't say I blame them, because I wanted to cry, too, but I was too busy wearing a headlamp and shoving random clothes in a bag.

Aaron talked and prayed the girls off of the emotional edge, as I teetered dangerously close to the aforementioned edge.

But, we made it!  We left our house at 8:45 and got to my parents' house at a little after 11:00...the last 15 minutes were through pouring rain.

But, hey, at least it wasn't a tornado.

And at least I wasn't wearing a headlamp :)

Linking up with And Babies Don't Keep!

The Camp Out

Aaron promised the girls that they would sleep in a tent in the backyard this summer. Sunday night seemed like the best night to squeeze it in.  Thankfully, it gets dark earlier, so I wasn't worried about Leah and Maggie being up too late on a school night.  

It was also a nice bonus for me!  Gracie was sick last week and had residual stomach cramps from it.  She was waking up at night kind of a lot which meant that I was waking up at night kind of a lot.  Theoretically, this would be a night full of uninterrupted sleep for me!

The girls were quite excited!

Aaron even made a fire...to make their camping experience that much more authentic.

They ended the evening reading the Jesus Storybook Bible by the light of a headlamp!

I enjoyed a quiet evening and went to bed.

I woke up to poor Aaron vomiting at 2:00 in the morning.

Clearly he couldn't go back out to the tent which meant that I morphed into the fun-camping-parent.

Now, I realize that I worked at camp for a long time, but I am a res camp girl. 

Which means that my kind of camping is the cabin kind.  

There's a lot about actual camping that appeals to me, but sleeping in a tent is not one of those things.

Regardless of that, I dutifully and gladly took Aaron's spot in the tent.  

It did take me over an hour to fall asleep because it sounded like a critter was trying to get into the tent...not the most relaxing sensation in the world.

I slept until Gracie woke up at like 5:20 and announced that she wanted to go inside. 

I was happy to oblige!

We brought in all of the important blankets and miscellaneous supplies and laid down on the real beds.

Ahhhhhhh...

Until Gracie started crying approximately 1 minute after laying down.

I figured that the night was just kind of weird for her, so I brought her out into the living room so we could cuddle/lay on the couch.

She proceeded to cry and whine for the next 2 hours until she threw up.

2 down.

Plus, Leah said that she wasn't feeling well and was unsure about going to school.

Leah likes school, so if she is okay with staying home, something must really be wrong.  I went with my gut and let her stay home.

I pulled together Maggie's lunch and got her some breakfast before taking her to school.

While I was doing that, Aaron and Gracie were throwing up at the very.same.time.

Now that's dedication to Father-Daughter bonding...how cute ;)

Leah joined in on the fun after I got back from taking Maggie to school and picking up some needed supplies.

What a day!  

I'm so grateful that Maggie and I didn't get sick.  I really felt God sustaining me through the day...largely through the prayers of friends and many offers of help!

Needless to say, I think we're going to wait a while before sleeping in a tent.

After all, it literally made 60% of us sick ;)

I Had a Rough Morning, but a Good Afternoon

When I decided to name my blog, I thought it was clever to call it The Good, The Bad, and The Quirky.  But, I also wanted to be able to write about times that might be considered "bad."  I like to keep things cheerful and light, but I also want to keep things real, you know? Because as much as I want to be the most perfect mom in the world, I most certainly am not.

Yesterday was certainly evidence of that.

Maggie and Gracie were in the bathtub and were all clean, so they had some time to just play.  The water was pretty sudsy, so I wanted to clip Maggie's hair up so I wouldn't have to rinse it again.  She started to pull it out and I told her she needed to leave it in.

She said, super sassy, "WHY should I?"

Can you believe that such a sweet, cute girl would say such a thing?

Needless to say, that didn't go over very well.  I raised my voice and said suuuuuuper helpful things like, "How dare you speak to me that way.  I am the mom.  How dare you!"

I pulled her out of the bath, wrapped her in a towel, and had her wait in the warm bathroom while I got Gracie dressed.

Let me say that I don't mind explaining why my kids are doing what I asked them to while they are in the process of obeying.  I think it's good!  But, obedience needs to be first time and not negotiated for their own safety (and my own sanity).  I can't risk them running away from me in a busy parking lot because they are expecting me to explain the whys of obeying before they obey.

They also know that when I ask them to do something, a great reply is, "Yes, Mom."

The amount of times I've had to remind them to say, "Yes, Mom," is staggering.

Anyway, Maggie was wrong.

And I was wrong, too.  I was mean, and I was filled with pride.

Every now and then I am just faced with my own brokenness and weakness.  It is so very sobering to me.

So, why do I tell you this?

Because we need Jesus.  I need Jesus.every.single.second.  

And any time you look at me and think that I'm such a great mom or such a wonderful person, I want you to know that what you are seeing isn't me...it's Jesus.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

This is the beauty of the Gospel...that Jesus forgives me again and again.  He redeems broken moments again and again.

That's what happened with me and Maggie.

We talked about what happened and what she did wrong.  And we talked about what I did wrong, too.  We both apologized and prayed together.

Then, she said, super sassy, "Why should I?" about 20 minutes later.

Are you kidding me?!?!?

But, Jesus redeems, and I handled that way better, calmly sending her to the corner and talking about it reasonably.

That's not me.  That's Him.

The morning was hard, and I told Aaron all about it when he came home for lunch.  I had considered texting him about it but realized that's just not something a person wants to hear via text!

As he was leaving, he reminded me that God's mercies are new every morning AND every afternoon.

And they are!  The afternoon started off with me bringing Maggie and Gracie into Leah's class so I could be the Dr. Seuss reader!

I help in Leah's class once a week, so I know all of the kids and it's super fun to be there!  Leah's teacher is a great friend of mine, so I love to see her, too!

I'm glad that Jesus can take something that started out poorly and make it end really well.