This is an Emergency!

This is our neighbor's house

In the pictures you can see the tube that holds the power lines to our house is snapped in two. Our dogwood is hanging in there, canopying the front door. There is a picture of Savannah under the dogwood. One of the branches will have to come down so that it does not snap. The trees were covered in ice on Wednesday morning and after hearing limb after limb crash to the ground, we were very cautious outside.

If you have been watching the news, or if you live here, you will know that we are living in a state of emergency. However, being stuck in a house without power (for 36 hours) with a child and no way out is not an emergency for our local government. How did we get there? This is the story of our latest saga.

Thurs. Jan. 22, 2009 - a routine stop at Walmart after work (to get supplies to make cupcakes for Savannah's school talent show) did not end well. Upon my return to the van, it would not start. Two hours later I was seated in a tow truck on my way to the dealership with the knowledge that my starter was "shot."

Fri. Jan. 23, 2009 - no part - expecting to fix the van on Monday or Tuesday

Mon. Jan. 26, 2009 - still no part (This is very bad news as you will see.) --Andy gets called into the hub where he works through the night arriving at home around 3:15 a.m.

Tues. Jan. 27, 2009 The part arrives, and the van is fixed, but school is closed (see our previous post), more bad weather heads our way. The roads are a mess, and there is no way to get to the van.

Andy once again goes to the hub - catching a ride with a co-worker because he cannot get our car out of our neighborhood (it doesn't sit far enough off the ground to manuver through the mess on our roads).

I catch a little of the news before going to bed. A nearby town is without power because of ice, and it is headed our way. NICE -- We are warned to turn up our heat and go to bed. Now, controlling our electric bill is just about impossible, so we have kept our heat at 65 degrees or lower for the entire winter. I take the advice of our local anchor and crank our heat up to 75 degrees and go to bed. At some point Savannah comes to my room and informs me that our power is out. Julia soon joins her, and at about 3:15 Andy arrives at home. We spend the rest of the night listening to the booming sound of limbs crashing all around us. We have no idea what we will awake to on Wednesday.

Wed. Jan. 28, 2009 no power and we are trapped. Andy spends the day chopping wood and trying to get our cars out in hopes that we can get to the van. We try to leave but cannot get down our street. We are thinking that the worst case scenario is that we will get power back at around midnight. WRONG - My mom calls late in the afternoon to say that the news is reporting that power to our city will not be restored for 7-10 days. YIKES! It is getting cold. We try to plan an escape, but it is approaching dark, and we do not have any way to get out without walking to a main road. sooo, along comes a hero, but there is some confusion in the plan ---He thought he was coming to get our car out, but we can't all leave. We have two terrariums that have to be kept warm and a dog. He came with buddies and only had room to take three people with him to deliver them to the warmth of Grandpa's and Grandma's house. We chose Zachary, Savannah, and Wyatt. We kept Julia with us because the whole emergency thing was really scaring her, and she wanted to be with me. Zachary is not so chivalrous. He was anxious to get out and took the "every man for himself" attitude. Wyatt was simply driving us crazy as he was bouncing off the walls and whining about not having power. So, the choice was made. Andy, Julia, and I set ourselves on the couch and loveseat in front of the fire with numerous blankets. We made it through the night and awoke to the hopeful sound of someone banging on something metal. No, our power was not restored.

Thurs. Jan. 29, 2009 We called our local government to see if our street would be cleared since we were without power and could not get out. That is not an emergency we were told. Okay.

Andy found a friend who could get him to the dealership where he retrieved the van and returned to rescue the rest of us (including the dog and two terrariums - we left the cat in our basement). We are all at my parents' house in the heat and are anxious to clean up and get a good night's rest.

Posting Twice?

Yeah, I know, you may have seen this already on the Baby Jelly Beans site, but if I don't put anything about Wyatt here, it will be strange when I close the other site, so this is about Wyatt today. School was out for snow today, and our little man was oh, so excited. You see-- he has been longing for the day when he could build a snowman and play in snow. He was trying to drag Andy and Zachary out of bed this morning to get some help with the project. Unfortunately, Andy was called in to the hub last night because of the weather and didn't make it home until 3:15a.m., and Zachary is well, a teenager. So, Wyatt waited and played and logged on his new Webkin until that moment when Zachary went outside. Wyatt joined him for the building of a snowman. One problem remained --- this is not snowman snow. No, it is snow and ice and crunchy. They did the best they could, and the carrot nose that Wyatt had to have is firmly in place along with pretzels for the eyes and nose. Wyatt was soooo excited! He couldn't wait for me to see it and take a picture.

Wrestling Mania

I will let you in on a typical Saturday at our house. We awake early so that Andy and Wyatt can get to Bitty Basketball. I go later and watch for a bit before taking Julia to gymnastics. Meanwhile, back at home Zachary catches a ride to a nearby county for wrestling practice, and Savannah could end up at home, basketball, gymnastics, or all three. Savannah's sports fall in the fall and spring as she likes to run and is interested in trying field hockey in the fall. She is our artist, and I will definitely be posting some of her work here.

Anyway, yesterday Zachary had to catch a ride to the regional tournament. Andy joined him there after gymnastics, and I got a phone call that Zach had pinned the guy in his first match of the day and would be wrestling to qualify for state. This is his first year! Naturally, I loaded all the kids up and headed to the tournament. I missed the state qualification match which Zachary lost. He was two points away from qualifying. He then wrestled to determine whether he would be 5th or 6th in the region, and low and behold, he got another pin! He placed 5th in the region, and only 3 members of our 7 member team were able to complete the tournament. They all placed in the top six which means they all got medals. WooHoo

... and then another surprise...Zachary's coach chose him as most valuable player for the team. The coach has worked very hard to develop this team, and he wants the school to pick it up. He had a great day yesterday!

11 teams competed ----some teams had more than one wrestler per weight class---- none of our boys wrestle in the same weight class----our missing boys were either too young, too new, injured or ill

Little Miss Amazing

This has been a humorous and exciting week for Julia.

On Sunday, she put together the ensemble pictured here and even came up with her own pose.

On Monday, she slept right through her kindergarten test (which happened to be at naptime.)

On Thursday, she finally got to take her test, and when I picked her up from preschool, she told me she had done very well.

"I only missed three." - Julia

"How do you know, did they tell you that?" -Me

"No, I just know." - Julia

"Do you mean that there were only three questions you didn't know?" -Me

"Yes" - Julia

On my way out of the building, the principal stopped me to schedule an appointment to go over Julia's results, and I learned that her test hadn't even been scored.

I met with the principal on Friday afternoon. Julia did amazingly well on the test.

On Saturday, Julia went to gymnastics, and her teacher approached me about putting her in a more advanced class because she has such "potential." She asked if I saw how straight Julia keeps her legs on the handstands and how she automatically points her toes.

We suspected that Julia had a bent toward gymnastics, and that is why she started taking it. She was already teaching herself cartwheels and climbing everything. Since the time she was a toddler we have known that her upper body strength is impressive. However, when approached about a more advanced class, I had to ask about the cost. Fortunately, it is the same as her current class.

Julia was considering quitting gymnastics, but after the conversation with her teacher, I told her that maybe she should try this. I said, "Julia, I think God has given you this gift, and maybe we should just see what he might want to do with this." Of course, I also told her that we did not want her to do this if she doesn't love gymnastics. She is now excited about the opportunity, and let me just say that I am not dreaming of an Olympian here. We are not in the financial category that would allow for the training that would require, but it may offer flexibility for employment when she is a teenager if she can work with the younger kids at the gym.

brr Baby, it's cold!

While the temperature plummeted to 0 degrees here last night, an explosion at about 3:30am awoke the girls and me. Andy was already up to let Bambi (our thirteen year old dog) out. The electricity went out and did not return until noon. While the rest of us went to work and school, Andy worked on starting the generator loaned to us months ago. We were supposed to empty the gas out of it so that they could pick it up today, but we have changed our plans, and they will get it tomorrow. Ultimately, Andy (aka my hero) missed the day at work to save our small animals (2 hermit crabs and a gecko), and to take care of the generator while making sure our pipes did not freeze.
By the way, this is the coldest day in four years here.

Bucket List

Our church has a weekly paper, and each week a new member is usually profiled. One of the typical questions is "name something on your bucket list." This has gotten me to think lately about my "bucket list." I don't know that anything on this list is a MUST do before I die because to live is Christ and to die is gain, but this is my expensive wish list.

• take the family to do a summer camp with Bring Me Hope in China - interesting because I don't jump at the chance to volunteer at summer camp with my own kids
• take the family to Disney World -it would be very cool to do this while at least one child is still enthralled with the wonder of it all
• take the family to Washington DC and tour all the traditional stuff along with the National Zoo
• visit the CCAI office in Colorado and find the pictures of Wyatt and Julia on the wall
• go on a heritage tour of China
• go to Estes Park and go horseback riding in the mountains (I did this a few years ago, and I think it was my favorite part of any vacation I have ever had).
• let each of the kids be an only child for a weekend - getaway with Mom and Dad (This appeals to me to have each one of them all to themselves for a weekend, but I am one of six children and not so sure this would have appealed to me as a child.
• get Andy to take Salsa or ballroom dance lessons with me (Okay this may be even more unlikely than my next wish).

One more - adopt a young girl (2 or younger) from China with a minor heart condition. I list this separately because it is the most unlikely of the list to happen aside from the dance class with my husband which is definitely the least likely to happen.
The rest of these are of lower priority to me, but I would like to do them.

• go to Hawaii
• take an Alaskan cruise

Guess what Zach got today...

His first cell phone

Zachary has wanted a phone for a long time, and we are not against it. However, we do not have the money to start him on a cell phone plan. I have been investigating options for Zachary, and he bought this phone with a pay as you go plan with his own money. He is not under contract, so if he decides this is not worth the big chunk it will take of his allowance, he does not have to continue it. Zach wants unlimited texting, but this is the best we can do for now.

In other news, Savannah and I shopped for a dress for the father/daughter dance today. This is traditionally held around Valentine's Day. As she is a fifth grader, this will be her last one, and I want to make it extra special for her. The plan was to go all out with a formal dress and visit to my sister to have her hair professionally done. The budget curtailed this a little. We did not get a formal dress, but Savannah loves the choice we made, and the price was definitely right. It was fun to shop with her. She rarely likes to do things like shop with her mom, so I jump at the chance when she is willing. We found the dress and searched for matching earrings to no avail. I would post a picture of the dress, but it is tucked away in her closet so that her "date" will not see it before the big event:)

I am playing with this blogging thing today and experimenting with pictures. I did not know they would load backwords, so it may make more sense to read from the bottom to the top of this post. I worked on taking down our Christmas decorations today. We collect ornaments and have so many that have a story behind them, so I took pictures of a few of them and decided to store them here, for now anyway.

Andy and I had a much needed weekend getaway to Coloarado a couple of years ago. We bought these gorgeous ornaments for the kids. This one happens to belong to Savannah.

This ornament brings back memories. When Zachary was little his favorite animal was the cheetah. We were walking through Lazarus one day (I think it wasn't Macy's yet) and saw this on a decorated tree. It was a little pricey and an impulse buy, but I have never regretted it, and I have never seen one since.

These snowmen were actually created using Wyatt's handprint. He made this at school this year, and it is definitely a keeper.

We bought this last year to celebrate our first Christmas in the home in which we hope to finish raising our family.

This is a Li Bien ornament from Pier 1. Li Bien is the Chinese art of inside painting. I have no idea what fish in Santa hats have to do with Christmas, but for whatever reason, I thought this ornament was whimsical and fun, so I bought it - after Christmas for half price. I gave it to Julia who always complains that everyone has more ornaments than her.

Wyatt's first Christmas ornament - sometimes children arrive on planes, and sometimes boys like planes. Wyatt does like planes, but he claims that he does not want to ride one again as the plane hurt his stomach.

Okay, now I am learning that the pictures load backwards., so here is our fireplace decorated for Christmas.

I am still learning on this blog thing, so I am going to try and post some pictures. I took down the Christmas decorations today. It always makes me sad to start that, but once I get going I am fine. The house just looks so pretty when it is all decorated.

so, this is the tree - it may get a new look next year as Savannah threw out most of the bows because they are worn out - the ribbon is pretty worn as well