The Power of a Storm

Along with probably every other person living in the northern Hemisphere, I love spring. I love the new green leaves, the dogwood trees, bare legs, and breezy days. But ever since our experience with a tree falling on our house two springs ago, the season also reignites my fear that I've held since growing up in Texas: storms and the tornadoes they bring. Rome has had a tough spring storm-wise, losing power several times, having countless trees fall around town, and even having rows of utility poles snapped in half as high-force winds have caused havoc.

As we were heading out the door on Wednesday morning, a storm bringing nearly 70 mph winds made a quick entrance and exit through our city leaving trees down all over and much of town without power. As schools let out early, evening church was canceled, and helicopters buzzed overhead, the town prepared for a storm that was promised to be much worse. Huddled down in the basement were the 5 of us, our family friends from down the street, along with a couple guys from the team and their girlfriends. After the first big storm passed, we ventured back up to track the storms that were following. Although the earlier prediction was spot-on for much of our region, Rome had little more damage than we'd already received from that early-morning storm. After waking up Thursday morning and seeing the destruction that changed the face of areas just a short drive from here, it's hard to believe the power of nature, along with the blessing that we received in avoiding it.

Virtually oblivious to the danger were these four. Although I won't ever forget the imagine of the four of them in the baby pool in our dark, damp basement (with Jack bouncing up and down in his neighboring pack-n-play), here is a shot of them waiting for the adults to decide our next move. Nothing better to little kids than a midnight storm party!

What a wild night; what an unbelievable reality to wake up to.

Easter Sunday

We had a great Easter celebrating with Chad's sister and her incredible family, Big D and Poppy, and one of the boys from the team, Marqis. The girls are always so excited to see their cousins and, although it was a quick visit, it did not disappoint.

Discovering some early-morning goodies

Our attempt at a family picture... might have to do some zooming on this shot!

Aly, Caroline and Warner before the egg hunt

Jack and Big D... look at that resemblance!

...and resting with Poppy

Snow Birds

Growing up, I remember the time between Super Bowl Sunday until May 1st as being just so special. It was for this 3-month time period that my grandparents would make their annual migration south from the northern tip of Minnesota to where we were in Texas. They would stay at a condominium close to us, be at our sports and school events, and be at our house (often with ooey-gooey Monkey bread) when we came home from school. I LOVED it. Although their stay was not quite as long as the time my brothers and I had with my grandparents, it was just as much of a treat to us. Nana and Papa came for the week prior to Easter, and although it was a short stay according to the calendar, we packed as much together-time as we could. Chad and I were sleeping in the room across from the girls and I think that their conversation while waiting to see Nana and Papa for the first time early Monday morning explains their excitement perfectly:
Aly: "Caro, do you think Nana and Papa are here?!"
Caroline: "Aly! I smell their coffee!" (then after peeking out of their bedroom door),
"Aly, I love Nana and Papa more than Mama and Daddy."
Aly: "Caroline, you can't say that!"

I am rarely caught with my camera so these few pictures don't do the visit justice at all. They were all I took during the entire week!

...At the children's museum in Chattanooga...

Making bugs

Playing in the water

It was so fun to be at a place where Jack could actually get down and enjoy some of the action!

...And just hanging out at home...

Cuddling with Papa

Undivided attention (wait, what's that?!) from Nana

...Now just anxiously awaiting this summer when this family of sick-of-the-heat birds can migrate North to New York!

Christmas in April

What's there not to love about spring? We have spent so much time out in the beautiful weather that our evening bath water is literally yellow from the pollen and live-oak blossoms! But it's amazing how even pollen-filled air just feels so good and healthy.





Although I wouldn't trade these beautiful days for anything, I eavesdropped on the girls playing before dinner and realized that they were longing for another time: Christmas eve. They had on their pajamas they received from us on Christmas eve, they were pretending to leave snacks for Santa, and they kept opening the front door and yelling, "Nana and Papa are here!" It was all I could do not to sit down and book a flight for the family to Syracuse for the weekend!

Just for the record...

We have had spring break this week and, though the weather took a turn for the worse (cold and rainy everyday?!) the kids and I have had a fun time just hanging out. Our goal was to do one special thing everyday; I love that they are still so young and naive that even little things can be a thrill. Tonight, after dinner and baths, we took a quick pajama-clad trip to the new frozen yogurt place in town. There is nothing like making your kids happy... I can see how it would be so easy--if money were no object!--to buy without regard. Just to watch your child's face! (I guess it's a good thing that we have a tight budget because I also know that as quickly as the kids want one thing, it just as quickly ends up in a drawer with all of their other treasures.)

It is so fun to see each of the kids changing and growing. I thought that 4 was a tough age for Aly, but what a difference a year makes! I truly enjoy her company, love watching her heart and compassion, and am blown away by her imagination. Recently, she has really gotten into sounding out words in books and attempting to spell:

"butterfly", "tomato", "cat", "dog", and "puppy"

Caroline continues to march to the beat of her own drummer, rarely realizing what is going on around her. She loves to make people laugh, makes faces at Jack when he's upset, but still loves to cuddle with me (though her "cuddling" is more of a jump-in-my-lap, strangle-me-hug, hop-back-out). She still has her imaginary friend, Fritz, who is apart of every story she tells. She even pulls a chair up for him at the dinner table!

An in-depth conversation. I just had to catch how "into it" they were.

And Jack is just doing new things by the day. This month he has started waving, kissing, clapping...and getting into everything! He's got a mouth full of teeth and is trying to grow into his huge, buck-tooth smile right now.

I can't believe that an entire month has flown by already; summer will be here before we know it! I hope that everyone has a great weekend--

Spring Resolution

Let me start off by apologizing, mostly to my parents. I'm sorry that I've been so awful about downloading (and taking, for that matter!) pictures of your grandkids. It's not a lazy thing; it's not that we are just so busy that I can't take pictures; it's certainly not that I don't care! I blame it solely and whole-heartedly on our less-than-great Internet service from at&t. I'd chronicle the time and conversations I've had with operators, service-technicians, and my children ("Hang on, Sugar- this person is telling me how to fix our computer...AGAIN!"), but that would be a mixture of boredom and frustration on both of our ends. So I'll just settle for "I'm sorry." With a new modem, new wiring, and a new positive outlook on the Web, I vow to begin this spring with a resolution to capture, download, and send more pictures.

With that said, here are some pictures of the Warner kids over the past several weeks. To be honest, a good majority of them are of Jack because if I were to compare the number of pictures I'd taken of the girls by 13 months to the number I've taken of Jack at the same age, the ratio would be about 10,000 to 3. So, being the guilt-ridden person that I am, I'll make up for it in a single blog post. So, here's to Jack and the girls:

Making cupcakes for Chad's birthday

A little outside art. Too bad Mama left it out in the overnight downpour.

Jack crawled over to a junk pile in the corner of our driveway with the sole purpose of playing with an old, deflated football. Makes his Daddy proud.

See those feet? Caroline was playing 'house' in the cabinet.

Jack playing in his room...

...and under his crib

A little NCAA tournament action for my boys

Our make-shift swing for Jack while we contemplate what to do with the new yard...

Saturday afternoon was a gorgeous, 80-degree day so we (Chad) used the afternoon to clean out the old barn (someday-to-be-playhouse) in our new backyard. The girls were so excited, and spent at least 10-15 minutes sweeping while pretending to be Snow White.

After a fair amount of 'cleaning', we left Chad to the years and years of neglected junk and dust for some fresh air and bike-riding at the school down the street. Here are the girls on their "obstacle course".

Caroline just started riding the 'big-girl bike' about 2 weeks ago and is already a pro. It helps that she does not have a timid or scared bone in her body. (did I mention that she fell down our 10-stair-metal-spiral staircase after church Wednesday night and after just a short crying spell said only, "Ow- my body hurts!")

Life, Love, and Basketball

I suppose that, for a good majority of people, it's hard to imagine that these three things are very similar. Life, love, and basketball. For our family, however, they get so intertwined that the line that connects one to the other gets a little blurry. Basketball is a huge part of our family, as it is present 12 months out of the year. I'm sure that it's sick to even half-jokingly refer to basketball as a family member, but it's our reality. And when we win, it's a reality that we love. Like any member of the family, this member is sometimes more needy and demanding than others. The "off-season" is filled with recruiting, planning, scheduling, conditioning, tutoring, worrying, and counseling; but it knows it's place and sits quietly while other family members take the forefront. But October through March is where this family member gets most of it's attention.

Chad and I got married 9 years ago tonight, and I can't help but look back and laugh at the date we chose; if planning a wedding now, we would never have picked a date that was still in the realm of 'the season'! But 9 years ago, Chad was teaching, this was spring break, and the thought of waiting 6 more months until summer break was out-of-the-question. But now, 9 years later, this needy family member called Basketball sits on the ground--throwing a temper-tantrum that could rival any two-year-old's-- until we, again, give it our full attention.

This was the Hawks' season. When Chad took this job, he refused to kick anyone off the team. So now, 4 years later, this was the first team that Chad had recruited from top to bottom. We've been nationally ranked throughout the year, had the highest number of wins in 40 years, and were just 3 games away from making it to the national tournament in Kansas City. Chad wanted to go so badly that I think he could smell the bbq sauce. But today's game ended, and we lost by 3 points. And I know that most people must have thought that I was foolish as I sat in the emptying coliseum crying. But I couldn't help it because this part of our family, the one that demands so much of our attention for such a big part of the year, broke my heart today.

I know that basketball is not life. I know that- I really do. And thank goodness that it's not love; But tonight--as my Love is hurting and sitting at a banquet for a tournament he is no longer a part of, I'm ready for basketball to take a much-needed back seat for awhile-- just what it deserves.