Freeze - They grow so fast

So I seized the moment to grab adorable pics of my kids who are growing so fast. Here's Claire at 3.5 being a monkey on the monkey Bars at Homewood Park and Joel boosting my self-esteem about cooking clearing his tray of my spaghetti. These smiles go to the pit of my soul in thankfulness!

Sorority Girl

Some of you know this part of my history, some don't but yes, I was sorority girl - Chi Omega '92 Phi Delta Chapter, Mississippi State Univ! Still proud of this organization and what it did for me in college and enjoy meeting people even last week at the playground who were Chi Os! I got the honor of going to the Chi O initiation of my cousin, Mary Morgan. So she's technically my first cousin once removed but whatever! My cousin's daughter - whatever...Family! I was very proud of her and she was honored to be selected by the whole chapter as this year's model initiate. Some of you sorority folks will get that...big deal to say the least! Glad we share another bond now and wanted to brag on her. She's been such a blessing to us and our kids and she's off to a great start in her college career at BSC in Bham. Way to go MM!

Silly Swimming

So Claire is pretty much fearless except when it comes to swimming. She's not big on getting her face wet. So we have begun the discussions about swimming lesssons. We met a lifeguard at our gym that we may do private lessons with. We have gotten library books about swimming. In one of them it has a picture of someone wearing a swim cap. She wanted to put one on. I had some from my triathlon days and she had a big time with this. Not sure it has narrowed any fear-gap of getting in the pool but cute nonetheless. We have started getting her in the shower to see if that helps with getting water in her face. It was a suggestion. Swimming may be tough this year but we'll get through it. Enjoy these pics...I smile every time I look at them!

2014 Feb Swimming - slideshows

Videos of Claire doing Gymnastics

Winter Snow Storm 2014

We woke up on Tues Jan. 28 thinking it would be a normal Tuesday where I take Joel to kindermusik and go into work at 11:30. But he woke up with a 102 fever. Jeff took Claire to her school 5 minutes away and went on to Tuscaloosa. I made a pediatrician appt for Joel for 11am. It was predicted for Bham to get a "dusting" of snow but at 9:30 that dusting began and it was pretty to start with. It continued to come down and I began watching the news to see if Claire's school would let out. I even called to check. I left with Joel at 10:30 to go to the MD in the snowfall (thinking - mommas do anything for their babies!) I began to be aware the roads were slick...I got a call that the MD office was closing and a nurse would call to give me info on handling that fever. As I'm telling them I'm 5 minutes away and asking if they could see him anyway, I cannot get up a hill and do a sliding 3 point turnabout avoiding a stalled FedEx truck. I move into Mother-Mode and am in pursuit to get Claire and subsequently met with hundreds of others doing the same thing (trying to get kids) and ending in a gridlock with also knowing there was no way I'd get up the hill in my minivan to get her. Cell phones calls were not happening and the texting began between me and Jeff on what was going on and me an my neighbors the Bagwells asking them if they could get Claire in their 4wheel drive. They would get her for me. So now it was how to get back to my house which was .5 mile away as the crow flies - but 45 min working around the neighborhood and getting my momentum up to get up a hill into our neighborhood. You will see a photo of a T-bone accident where I crossed over into our neighborhood probably just a few hours before. Could have been me with my feverish baby! Thank you Lord! So Claire got home and after some great news reporting we decided Jeff would get a room at the Hotel on UA's campus and stay the night. The low temp would be 11 degrees and bad to be stuck in a car that cold! He made it home by 1pm the next day. (Thanks to God Joel woke up on Wed morning fever-free!) All who experienced this used the words "This is Crazy! Insane! Who knew? It happened so fast!" Over 11,000 kids spent the night in their schools with teachers parents and stranded motorists. Hotels booked, people sleeping where they could find shelter - WalMart, Home Depot, CHick Fil A...most people who tried to leave wherever they were returned after a few hours. Mostly wherever you were between 11-12pm that day is where you spent the night! Good Samaritan stories abound of folks helping who had ATVs and 4WD vehicles...5 deaths and one baby born out in this! The main roads were gridlocked for over 24-36 hours. At least 25 cars stranded on the main road into our neighborhood alone! We were hunkered down the rest of the week playing back and forth with neighbors. We got out on Thurs afternoon to play with Jack and Sam Breland. Friday was a little icy in the morning but normal by afternoon though all schools still out. Ironically, as I write this the weather is a beautiful 60 degrees and sunny - I just got back from a jog in shorts and a tshirt! My mind raced on the "what ifs"....If Joel had not had his fever that kept us home, I would have been downtown with him either stuck at UAB or his day care and Claire either at her school or home with our neighbors...My heart really pained for those who could not get to their kids...It made you have to trust the Lord to take care of them and they were in good hands. If you were home on Tues night and not separated from at least one family member, you were rare! Everyone has a story about this one and won't forget it! It affected us all! Hats off to the Police, Fire dept, National Guard and other officials who really did a great job as I watched the reports. And an even bigger hats off to the regular people helping regular people! Here's some fun pictures and videos of our week at home during the snow storm and the creativity that ensued - making the most of it :)

2014 Winter gridlock - slideshows