Bad Storms

I took Katie to Target tonight to buy her lunch bag for school (I've got to pack her lunch starting Tuesday unless we want to pay $3.25 PER DAY (!!!!) to buy her lunch, which I so don't want to do... pay that is.) and after we found the perfect bag and picked out a cute ladybug ice pack, we spent a lot of time in the shoe section trying on heels (or tall shoes as Katie calls them).

We also had to buy band-aids.  Katie had a pack of 10 and somehow 6 of them managed to become attached to her arms and legs.  Now 4 of the 6 are attached to the floor and couch.  Surprisingly, there were no visible injuries after the removal of the band-aids.  So anyway, now she's got Dora band-aids and there are 26 in that pack and if I hide it really well, maybe we won't run out in the next 2 days.

And on the way out of the Target parking lot, Katie said "Mommy, I really miss Target" with a wistful tone.  All I could think was that I do too...

Then I heard the *tornado* sirens.  And we kind of hurried home because *tornado* sirens aren't a good thing.

I saw a bunch of people on the street watching the storm and staring at the sky in the area right near our house and as I got closer, the lightening got worse.  Then it was drizzling but nothing too bad, just not great.

We got home and into the house and John didn't think the storm was serious enough for us to go downstairs (big relief since Jake was sleeping) so I was putting clothes away in the bedroom when he told me that we should go down.  Like NOW.

So I took the kids, the diaper stuff, and my phone (you know, the important stuff...) and we headed downstairs.

By the time we got settled and turned on the news Katie was getting worried.  She was nervous about the "bad storm" going on and she kept asking if her toys would be okay upstairs and if our house would be okay upstairs.  It was pretty much the topic for the 40 minutes we were down there.  I read a book, stopped Jake from getting into the TV hutch, reassured Katie, stopped Jake from standing on one of the chairs, reassured Katie, asked John to bring down Lambie... and Big Bear (the only huge, child-sized bear we have and Katie worriedly asks "Do you think daddy knows who big bear is?"), cuddled Katie, folded a load of towels, changed Jake's diaper, reassured Katie, called Grandma and Grandpa to say hi, and finally, packed everything back up to bring upstairs once John gave the all clear.

Katie was still worried and she insisted we watch the news.  I tried to change the channel but she kept asking "Where is the news?" so I didn't try again till the storm had really calmed down.  That meant she heard the words "tornado, hail, trees down, tornado, tornado, tornado!" and I didn't think she understood all of this stuff but I think the weatherman repeating everything 500 times might have helped the phrases stick.  She didn't want me to change the channel downstairs either.

Now she's sitting next to me because she's scared to go to bed by herself.  Tonight I'll give her a break.  I've been making her go to bed at 8:30 or so but tonight she's had a bit of a scare and it's nice to sit here snuggled up with her.

She just said "I love you mama."  Awww.

Now she's asked "Can I lean on you?" and I said of "Of course" (because she's not really into cuddling with mommy much anymore, she's too busy keeping toys away from Jacob).

I'm really surprised she didn't also ask me for a popsicle.  She's been loving those today and has eaten many more than one kid should eat.  But her throat is sore and it makes her feel better so I've been letting it go.

Now the kids are in bed and I'm getting sleepy.  We've had a busy evening and it's hopefully going to be much MUCH calmer tomorrow!

Disappointment Served With a Side of Snot

Soooo, why am I disappointed?

This weekend I was supposed to go to the lake with the kids.  It's the town celebration and I was looking forward to going to the craft fair and shopping and just having fun.  The kids are at an age where they're great to take to stuff like this (and once I find one of those kid leashes, Jake's wandering ways will worry me less) and I don't know if I have more fun at the event or just watching as they experience the event!  

Probably watching them.

But Friday afternoon at work I got a voice mail from John saying that the kids were sick.  I asked how they were feeling and he said that Katie actually *admitted* that she wasn't feeling good.  This is not normal for her.  Usually she'll exclaim over and over that "I not sick!" while her nose is all stuffy and her voice sounds scratchy.  "She's got a runny nose and she's hot," he told me.  He also said that he felt her forehead to see if she was warm and Katie told him that it wasn't her head that was hot, it was her neck.  

So I decided to wait till I got home so I could see for myself how they were doing.  After a quick stop at Target for popsicles and bread.  And, well, Target also happens to have other stuff that magically ended up in my cart!  Totally necessary stuff like the 30-Day Shred video (so mine could go back to the library before fines bankrupt us), a bottle of shower gel (I had a coupon), grapes, apples, steak, potato (yum, yum, yum, and yum) and I think that's it.  Oh, and the popsicles and bread I had gone in for.

I got home and saw the kids and decided we would not be going up north to spend lots of time outside in the extra hot heat.  Runny/stuffy noses, glazed eyes, irritability.  All things that would make this weekend less than fun.  Also?  When I told her to get her jammies, she picked out winter jammies because she was cold.  Meanwhile, I'm sitting there sweating from the heat.  So, yep. Sick.  That ruled out the lake.  And the fun we were going to have.

Not that we aren't having an awesome time here.  At home.  We already ate breakfast, picked up toys, and the kids are having a nap (I know... what!?!?  Katie NEVER naps.  I guess getting up at 5 a.m. can be a little tiring.  I wouldn't know.  I bribed her with her shows and unlimited popsicles for a couple of hours more sleep for mommy.  And it worked.  I love 4 years old).

So, I hear Jake talking to himself in his crib now.  Strange... he's yelling "Ow, ow, ow" so I better get him.  I think it's time to wake Katie up too... we've got to keep up this 8:30 p.m. bedtime I've been enforcing!

Oh...

On another note... I just realized that my dryer sheets come in packs of 276.  I've got three packs.  I could do a load of laundry a day and not need to buy dryer sheets for 2 years.  I don't know how I ended up with so many...  

Oh wait.  I remember now.

Costco.  The same place that sells enough chocolate chips in a bag to make 500 cookies.

Thanks Costco.