Tornado Update...

Alabama death toll now at 250... please pray for all the families.

The Alabama Tornadoes.

April 27th, 2011 was a day we will all remember.  Not because we want to.  There are 162 deaths confirmed in the state of Alabama and officials think the number will be rising.  There are still search and rescue operations going on.

Yesterday, I watched as a huge tornado went right  through Tuscaloosa and barely missed Chuck's parents house and his brother's house.  All we could do was watch in horror and pray.  Then, we watched as the same tornado went through Birmingham and the surrounding suburbs again very close to where my parents and my brother's live.  We watched and prayed and I was a basket of nerves.

That night the storms reached our area, but thankfully went just to the north of us and we were spared.  We did use our "safe room" two times when we went under a tornado warning.  I was so proud of the boys as they knew exactly what to do and Maggie thought it was "fun" to wear her pink bike helmet.

Join us in prayer for all those affected by the tornadoes yesterday in what is being called one of the deadliest natural disasters in US history.

Do you have a tornado plan ?

There is a high risk for a significant outbreak of Tornadoes in our area today.  It is a very ominous threat and the weather forecasters are calling it a "major tornado outbreak" and other words like "a well organized system" and "a great threat" and " a high confidence in the forecast".  In other words, be prepared to go to a safe place when you hear your NOAA WEATHER RADIO go off.

We have gone over our family tornado plan with our children, checked to make sure we have batteries in our radios, flashlights are near, cell phones charged and helmets available.  We take this threat very seriously.

We have personally seen what damage tornadoes can do and know that having a plan is wise.

This is our safe room.  It is on the lowest level and in the center of our house.  It also has no windows which makes it even safer.   We have lined the helmets up in case we have to seek shelter and the boys each have a job in case we have to put our plan in action.  Hopefully, we won't have any bad weather here.  But, just in case, we are ready.  Are you ?

Maggie and the basket.

Easter Weekend.

Happy Easter ! We have had The Best Easter weekend so far.  The weather has been wonderful and Chuck's parents spent the weekend with us.  We celebrated Good Friday at our church Friday night with a beautiful service.  The boys sang with the Chapel choir and our adult choir sang too.  It was a very moving reminder of why we celebrate Easter - Christ's crucification and resurrection. 

 Hallelujah !

 We spent Friday afternoon outside playing.

Chuck and his dad worked all weekend on our square foot garden.  They put in a drip irrigation system that is amazing.  Both of them are brilliant, and it was so fun to watch them put their heads together on this project. 

 Hopefully, we'll have some big, juicy tomatoes soon !

Saturday afternoon, we got ready to go to our church's Easter egg hunt.

Maggie really loved hunting for the eggs and she LOVED her Easter basket.

She couldn't wait to pour all her eggs out of her basket and see what was in each one.

Sunday, we went to church.  

The boys sang during the morning service and again blessed us so much.

Chuck's mom cooked a big Easter southern lunch that was divine !  We had ham, collards, green beans, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, cornbread and coconut cake.  Yum !

After lunch, Maggie did a little light reading.

  Oh how she loves a good book !

Side Walk Chalk Fun.

  There's been a big box of chalk sitting in our garage for years, just waiting for a little girl. 

 And she loved it !

And while she played and scribbled, I threw in some pre-school letter learning. 

( Thanks to Barney videos, Maggie knows most of her letters)

 I drew shapes in different colored chalk,

 And we reviewed shapes and colors.  

Maggie also made it into some sort of obstacle course, running and crawling through the shapes.

Then, we she got bored with that, she started lining them all up very carefully.

Of course, we had a lot of help from the world's best dog - Charlie !  Thanks for guarding the wagon and scooter Charlie. 

 You're the best !!!

Speech Update.

It seems Maggie's speech has just exploded recently.  She is repeating so many words now - some words only Chuck and I can recognize - and many words that are very clear.  

Here's a list of some words that I can think of that she is really saying good:

purple
blue 
yellow
ball
no !!!
bye bye
Hi !!!! ( she loves to wave and say hi to anyone )
Hello ! ( Maggie  loves to talk on the "phone" and say hello)
water
cold
hot
arm
elbow
uh oh !
dog - woof
cat - meow
monkey -oooo
oh !
ma ma
pa pa
apple
butterfly 
bird
hole
hat
out
I love you !
Will
Walker
Where's  ?
Home

Bye Bye.

Maggie gets a birth certificate.

Do you hear it ? A big sigh of relief.  I finished my last adoption paperwork and I now hold in my hands an Alabama Certificate of Foreign Birth ( aka a birth certificate ).  

The mother's name is Kathy and the father's name is Chuck.  So awesome ! Now, all you adoptive parents are nodding your head ands saying "yes" !

This is what Maggie thought of it.  

She was not impressed, but I was.

 This picture has nothing to do with her beautiful birth certificate.  

She was just telling me she was cold. Cool !

More Story Book Farm

Cowboy Jack fitting Maggie with her riding helmet.

I think Maggie was saying "hi" (with her cute southern accent) 

to all her friends at the farm.

Maggie finally got to trot on her horse "Tom Sawyer" today and loved it !

One tired little girl...

Passed out !!!