Tuesday, February 27, 2007

EF1 Tornado

On Saturday, February 24, a tornado touched down in our neighborhood. Our side of the neighborhood was not touched but just 1/4 mile away it touched down. Up until 12:00pm today our neighborhood has been "restricted". In other words you had to show proof that you lived here to get in. The police even patrolled the neighborhood. Here is an expert from The Shreveport Times.

Tornado hits...City
By Adam Kealoha Causey

...Meteorologists at the National Weather Service office at Shreveport Regional Airport said an EF1 tornado generated 90 to 100 mph winds that snapped trees, ripped shingles, bashed businesses and destroyed whole sections of 40 to 60 houses shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday. Law enforcement agencies, fire department emergency personnel, American Red Cross officials and volunteers, Bossier Parish prisoners and neighbors worked for hours to clean up debris and assess damage.

The storm tore a mile-long, 250-yard wide path along adjacent..., meteorologist John Hansford said.

"These storms were moving roughly 60 mph to 65 mph, so when it did touch down, it didn't take long to move through that part of...."

Besides minor cuts, scrapes and bruises, no serious injuries were reported, spokesman Mark Natale said.




This house is one of many damaged by a tornado...on Saturday. (Val Horvath/The Times)

Rating the damage Meteorologists began using the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale Feb. 1 to rank tornado intensity from zero to 5. The EF scale incorporates more damage indicators and degrees of damage than the original Fujita scale, established in 1971.
EF0 (Gale) 65-85 mph.
EF1 (Weak) 86-110 mph.
EF2 (Strong) 111-135 mph.
EF3 (Severe) 136-165 mph.
EF4 (Devastating) 166-200 mph.
EF5 (Incredible) 200 or greater.
Source: The National Weather Service...


We were very blessed that it did not reach us but it is devastating to see those that it did touch.

Lowe's Race Car

This past Saturday we took Sam to Lowe's for their Grow and Build series. They were building race cars! Sam had a lot of fun and he even had a few friends show up to build too. Here is a little slide show for you to watch:

Friday, February 23, 2007

Randomness on Sam

Last night after I had put Sam to bed I was walking down our hallway to our bedroom to get a load of laundry just to find him cowering in his bathroom. When I asked him what was wrong he shyly showed me a bleeding finger. Now I'm thinking...how could a child that was supposed to be in bed have a bleeding finger. I was soon to find out that he was not in bed as I had thought. He had gone into his bathroom, found his daddy's razor and was examining it. The razor popped off and Sam proceeded to try to put it back on. Therefore his cut finger.

I was proud of myself as I didn't get mad. I remember a time where I had cut my finger on a razor as a child and had that same feeling of how much it hurt vs how much trouble am I going to get into. Don't even know if my parents remember it or not. I even told Sam about it and that I understood his feelings at the moment. I put pressure on the bleeding finger for 2 minutes (first-aid training pays off) and stopped the bleeding. Then out came the medicine and band aids. After I was finished playing doctor I asked him if he was ever going to play with the razors again. He firmly said, "No, I'm not".

Once he was back into his bed he called out to me one more time. I went to his room to have him tell me that it not only was throbbing but that it stung like a hornet. Now he has never been stung by a hornet so I don't know where he got that but it sure made sense to me.

Fast forward to this afternoon....

I'm actually sitting out here in the screened in porch (loving the weather) watching Sam play in the back yard. Sam has a great imagination. He has turned his tire swing into a space ship. It has a stick with the lid of a metal trash can on the end of it, vines to camouflage him, and a broom to steer with. I wish I had moved quick enough to get a picture of this but alas his imagination has moved him on to other things. Now his tire swing has been turned into a tornado contraption. In other words he has wound it up so tight that it would make one sick spinning around on it. He has it anchored with a step stool so that he can get up onto it and await for me to swing him while he spins.

So I guess I better finish this up and go play with my son.

Oh to be a child again.

My Walking

Well I did it!

I walked 3 miles this morning! I'm quite proud of myself because of the fact when I first started this I would walk 1.5 miles and would be quite winded and worn out for a good part of the day. Now after walking for roughly 1 1/2 months 3 miles was a breeze and I feel pretty good! Of course my legs are sore but I can live with that. Now if I could just start seeing a difference in my body.

Being Friday and payday it was off to Wally World to do the shopping. Just for kicks I reset my pedometer and ended up walking another 3.9 miles! Now this does include walking in to the store, shopping and then back out to the car. Never knew that I walked so much just shopping for groceries!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Catching Up

I see it's been awhile since I posted anything here. So this may be long.

Well Sam is now better and back to school! YEAH!!! I then got a little bit of it and I really wasn't feeling better until yesterday. I've finally been able to start walking again and it looks like I'll pass the half way mark really soon! I'm doing at least 2.5 miles a day so I still think I'll be able to meet the 100 miles goal by April 1st if not sooner. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Let's see...what has been happening other than that since the last time I was on here. Last Saturday we went to Lake Bistineau. It was a very windy day so we didn't stay as long as we would normally have. Here are just a few pictures of the day and I'll include a Slide show at the end of this so you can see all the pictures if you wish.
Yes, I took my knitting with me in the car. This is going to be a shrug once I get it finished.
Oh no! It's the Moss Monster! :) Sam loved playing with the Spanish Moss that was all over the place.
Oh please??? Just this once? hehehe Andy wondered why I took a picture of this sign...I really don't know.
Lots and lots of tall trees. Since it was so windy that day you could stand on the ground look up and get so dizzy seeing the trees sway back and forth. This makes one realized just how small we really are.
Saw some tracks along the beach.
Obviously we saw some Spanish Moss. I personally think that it looks beautiful swaying from the trees. And the color is beautiful too.
Okay...I know that I'm his Mom...but he is just too cute!

I know that most of the country is under a deep freeze (and I'm kind of missing that) but here we have been experiencing temperatures way above normal for this time of year. Yesterday and today have been in the 80's! I've been doing my walks around 9:30 in the morning but now I'm thinking that I may have to move it up some as it is already in the upper 60's to lower 70's. We will be cooling off some this weekend with some rain and next week seems to look cooler too. Oh well. Better get used to it I guess.

Sam now has glasses! He only has to use them to do his homework and reading before bedtime. The Dr. said that his correction is very little but it will help him and his eyes relax. He picked out his own glasses and I think that he did a very good job. See for yourself:


Well it seems as though I don't have as much to talk about as I thought I had. I think about stuff all the time that I want to put on here but lately when I sit down to do the actual writing I draw a blank.






Sunday, February 18, 2007

Pancakes

Last night was breakfast night. I went to go make some pancakes and found out that we didn't have enough Bisquick. I had already entered some of the ingredients into a bowl (I know this recipe almost by heart) and didn't want to waste any of them. So out comes the cookbook. Better Homes and Garden Cookbook saves the day and we had wonderful Banana Pancakes, a favorite around here.

Take a look:
Batter is ready to go and now they are cooking away!
Boy they sure do look good! And, yes, to answer your question...they were WONDERFUL!
Thing is...no one said that they tasted any different! I might just have to make them from scratch more often. I really enjoyed making them last night.

Happy New Year!

For those of you that are Pigs...HAPPY NEW YEAR! For of those of you that may not know today is the Chinese New Year and this year is the year of the Pig. If you would like to find out your sign you can go here. I am a Sheep or on some calendars it is listed as a Goat. Have fun finding out what you are!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

I want to share with you two emails that I received in my inbox yesterday:

V A L E N T I N E
For God so loVed the world ,
That He gAve
his onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life."
John 3:16


COFFEE
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:"Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. "While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... and then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life. The type of cup one has does not define, nor change the quality of Life a person lives. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything!

.......... Enjoy your coffee! Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.


I thought that you would enjoy reading those and I hope that you did.

Sam is on the mend. I know this two ways. His symptoms are disappearing. His temp was only 100 or 99 today and his cough is hardly there. YEAH! That and he is about to drive me crazy. Having to keep a boy inside for 5 days is not easy much less keeping him calm.

Well I started another scarf today. Here is a progress picture of it:

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Second Hat Finished

Well I have finished my second hat. Having a sick child at home gives me plenty of time to work on knitting as it is easier to do with him lying on me. I used a self-stripping yarn and I think it looks really cool! Sam said that he would like to have a long pointy hat so I looked around at some patterns and sort of put several together and came up with my own. Here are some pics with him modeling it for me. I had to force some the smiles because he was feeling so lousy and just wanted to lie down on the floor. Poor thing.
Here is Sam modeling the hat.
Sam wanted to make a silly face while wearing it but all you can really see is that he is crossing his eyes. But still cute. :)
Here he is holding it up so that you can see it better.

My Valentine's Day Flowers

I have the most wonderful husband! Today I received the most beautiful flowers! Earlier this morning the doorbell rang and it was UPS. Thought nothing of it as we get packages all the time for hubbies work. Went out to get it a while later to find two dozen roses (along with other boxes)! I was in complete shock! Check them out below:

Happy Valentine's Day

Well maybe not so much on the happy part. Sam has been sick with a fever since Sunday night. BUMMER! But the nice part is he is just so sweet this week even with not feeling well. He did get a chance last Saturday morning to go out with daddy and purchase my Valentine's Day present! Andy told me that he knew exactly what he wanted to get me and that knew exactly where it was in the store! What? You want to know what it is?? Okay here is a picture: My son already knows me so well! Dark Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares filled with either carmel, dark chocolate or raspberry! YUM! Yes, I've already had two pieces and he has had one.

On another note...I must share with you what Sam was telling me last night as he was fighting a high fever and drifting off to sleep. He was talking about his Great Grandma up in heaven and the fact that, "she's been dead awhile now and her body is probably all dust and bones but God has her up in heaven...except that he took her hair too as nobody wants to be bald up in heaven." What children will say! I loved it.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Some Firsts Happened Today!

We Saw Pelicans!
While heading across the Red River this late afternoon the three of us saw some birds flying gracefully over the river. They were big, white with black wings and the closer we got the more we realized that they were pelicans. All About Birds has some great information about them if you would like to take a gander. Here are a couple of pictures of what they look like:
This is exactly what they looked like to us. But of course we didn't have the nice sunny sky here today. It was cloudy and rainy most of the day here. This particular picture of them in flight is from Wikipedia.
This picture and the map are from All About Birds.
Y'all

Today after school while Sam was lying on the floor I heard him utter the word "Y'all"! I wondered how long it would take living down here in the south before he started to sound like he had grown up here. It took approx. 3 months! Later this evening I even detected a southern accent while we were having a conversation. I even end up with a Southern Gentleman after all.


Hat is finished!
I did it! I finished my first hat! After restarting the hat yesterday I have now finished it! I love it and I am hoping that Sam will like it too. I have some pictures below but will also take some more tomorrow with Sam modeling the hat for me.
The picture on the left I tried standing the hat up and took the picture with the flash. The next one it is flat and lying down in natural lighting.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

My First Hat!

For the first time today I was privileged to meet another wonderful woman that knits! We met at one of the local bookstores and had a great time. I personally can't wait for the next time that we can get together. While there I worked on my hat. This hat is the first time I have ever worked on double point needles. I didn't have a circular needle that was short enough to start this hat but I did have the dpn's here so I just started with them. Of course I didn't do a swatch like I should have to check my gauge and the hat was a bit small. When Sam came home from school he wanted to try it on. To small. He said that he wanted this hat so off it came from the needles. I have now started it again and I'm hoping I picked the correct size for his head as he was asleep when I started it again and was unable to measure his head. If it's still the wrong size I'll start over again. At least I'm getting some good practice! I also finished my square for DIY's Knit In and will be sending it off to Warm Up America. Here are pictures of the square and some of the hat in progress.

Best Ad

Well before I leave you this morning to run errands and then go to my very first knitting "meeting" (I'll update about that later) I wanted to leave you with what I feel was the best Super Bowl ad.

Diet Coke & Mentos

You're probably wondering why I am posting about Diet Coke and Mentos...really...there is no reason. Just wanted to share some fun and believe it or not some education! The first video is where I learned about this particular experiment. At my house we really like watching Mythbusters and this is episode is still one of our favorites. So enjoy the episode and then you can watch the original EepyBird Diet Coke and Mentos show. :) They take a look at their site and watch more experiments with Diet Coke and Mentos. Have fun and enjoy your day.



Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Wouldn't it be nice in a way....

Yesterday while putting up some laundry in my bedroom I happened to have on an old episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode that was on was called "The Offspring" . In this episode Data creates an android. This android is his child. In one scene the child was talking and talking and talking when Data just reached over and turned it off. Now...wouldn't that be nice in a way.....

Proud Mom

Just need to brag a bit here...Sam was the first one to reach his AR (accelerated reader) goal in his class for this nine weeks! He was really excited about that. He is really reading so much better now! Like something just finally clicked in his brain that said to him...hey, you really can do this! I'm so proud of him...can you tell?

Last night was his first night back with Tiger Cubs. He was a little nervous at first but once he was in the house and around all the other boys you would have never known. He had a great time and actually asked this morning when the next meeting would be.

It is really nice to see Sam getting back into the swing of things. Mid-January he really had a tough time with the realization that we had moved. I think it finally sank in with him that we were here and not moving back any time soon. He took it a lot harder than we expected him to. But every day is a day that is better. There have been some steps back but I think that we are finally getting to the point where we will keep stepping forward.

Sam has also grown again. He put on his uniform this morning and realized that his arms are too long for his shirt. There was roughly 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches of skin showing where his sleeve should have come down to. So, we pushed up his sleeves. I'm going to try and not purchase more long sleeve shirts as it should be getting a bit warmer here. I need to put a brick on his head to slow down this growing!

Monday, February 5, 2007

Icicles

These pictures were forwarded to me in an email. The pictures themselves are just amazing! Nature at it's worst sometimes can create some wonderful images.

The incredible sight you are about to see is in Versoix, a town close to Geneva City , Switzerland . The Leman Lake is in the background. You can click on them to see a bigger version of them. I think that they are just beautiful!



Now I think that we all need to quit whining that we're cold!

MSNBC Poll

I was just reading one of my SILs blogs and she had this posted there. Thought I would share it with you! Bad year for Satan! :)

Super Bowl...Come and Gone

The Super Bowl has come and gone. I was not impressed with this years game or the commercials. If you missed some of the commercials you can see them all here. To me they just seemed like the average everyday commercial. Either that or I'm getting older...but I refuse to say that is the reason why. :)

My husband and I both agree that the real Super Bowl game was played when the Colts played the Patriots a few weeks back. That was a much better game than this years Super Bowl. Oh well, maybe next years game will be better. Football is over for another year. The next sport that this household really follows will be baseball.

My poll is now closed and here are the results. The question was: Do you watch the Super Bowl for the game, commercials or both? The winning answer was Both! Game had 5 votes, Commercials had 4 votes and Both had 9 votes.

We attended a Super Bowl party at our Associate Pastor's house with our Sunday School class and it was a ton of fun. All the kids played together with no fights and ran themselves until they were too tired to stand. I made it home in time to participate in some of the Blog/Chat that DIY was hosting (see previous posts) and had a fun time with that. I was able to work on my knitted square some but I didn't get it finished. I'll work on it this week and get it sent off.

Well here's to another week. Let it be a good one for you!

Sunday, February 4, 2007

This Weekend.....So Far

Before I talk about this weekend I need to first back up to this past Monday evening. While Andy and I were at bell choir practice we were reminded that the bell choir would be attending a Handbell Workshop this coming Saturday. (Below I have posted some pictures of my hands and the bells as Andy and I spent a total of 6 hours polishing the bells.) Our church was going to provide child care for Sam but he was to be the only child needing care. That meant that he would be with two adults by himself in an empty church from 8am-3:30pm. How boring for him! So on Wednesday I approached a couple that has 3 boys (one being Sam's age) and asked them what they were doing on Saturday. They responded by saying, "Do you need us to watch Sam for you?" I was pleasantly surprised. They then invited all of us over on Friday evening for a pizza and movie night along with inviting Sam to spend the night! WOW!

Fast forward to Friday evening. We went over to our friends house (which is right down the street from us) and had pizza while watching a movie. Now...this movie was probably only watched by the adults as the four boys went up to the bedrooms to play the whole time. It was fun to be able to sit with adults, know that our kids were safe, and have some adult conversation. We have a lot in common with this couple including having adopted kids. Their first child was adopted before having two more of their own and of course many of you know that we adopted Sam. This was the couple that had first greeted us when we started attending First UMC here. They sat with us and even invited us to go out to lunch. We got to know them quite well then but after this night with them I feel as though we have made some really good friends. And to think it only took us 3 months! :)

Around 10pm we headed back to our house leaving Sam to spend the night. Now one must know that this was the first time that Sam has ever attempted to spend the night at a friends house. We told him that it would be different than sleeping in his house or one of his grandparents house. We also reminded him that we would just be right down the street and that it was perfectly okay to have the other parents give us a call. Approximately one hour later our phone rang and they were bringing him back home. I was very proud of Sam for trying. It's hard that first time.

Saturday morning we took Sam back down to their house and we went off to our Handbell Workshop. Sam had a ton of fun playing with the other boys. They even got to go to The Home Depot for their Kids Workshops which is offered the first Saturday of every month. Sam came home with a handmade napkin holder and a Home Depot wooden car. Andy and I had a lot of fun at the Handbell Workshop and were back at their house around 4pm. Sam had so much fun that he wanted to stay there. Once home he went outside to shoot some hoops and ride his bike, that is after I put the chain back on. He was in bed and asleep by 8pm and slept until almost 8am this morning. Boy was he tired!

Today we went to Sunday School and Church and ended up joining! It was a wonderful feeling and a great service. This afternoon we will be going to the Associate Pastor's house for our Sunday School's Super Bowl Party. Of course, I'll be taking my knitting along as I want to do my square today for DIYs Knitty Gritty Knit-In. The party won't last that long as we all have kids so once we get back home I am hoping to join in the live chat with Vickie Howell.


Saturday, February 3, 2007

My Sleeping Star

Here is Sam fast asleep after a very long day. I'll post more about that tomorrow as it is getting late. He is sleeping with some of his favorite books and the Home Depot car that he made today. I had some fun and played with some of the photo editing tools. Enjoy!

Here's To Us!

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking .
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were
O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have PlayStation's, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO
DEAL
WITH
IT
ALL!

And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS -The big type is because of your EYES!

Friday, February 2, 2007

Aunt Mel

Aunt Mel has captured the heart of my son and I don't know if she knows it yet or not. Now I'm making it public for her. He met her for the second time (the first time he was still a baby) at his other Aunts wedding (hi Aunt Nut and Aunt Lori!). Now he can't stop talking about her. I showed him the other day the picture of Aunt Mel in the back of the book Not Another Teen Knitting Book by Vickie Howell, and he started to get all sad. Then said, "I miss my Aunt Mel. When can I see her again?" Of course, my usual reply was, "Gee, hon, I just don't know when we'll be able to get out there and see her. But we'll try to sometime soon."

So, Aunt Mel, if you happen to be reading this...

Hi Aunt Mel. I love you.
Sam

DIYs Knit-In and some Small Jealousy

Join Vickie during theSuper Bowl Sunday Knit-In

So, this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, I have always loved to watch the game, the commercials, partake in some wonderful foods and, yes, I have even worked a project or two while watching.

This year I will be knitting a 7" x 9" square for Warm Up America. These will eventually be sewn together into blankets to be distributed to women’s shelters, nursing homes, and daycare centers.

DIY will be hosting a "Knit-In", hosted by Vickie Howell of Knitty Gritty who will also participate/host a live blog between the hours of 5-11pm ET.

If you would like instructions to either knit or crochet a square while you enjoy the game go here.

Jealousy!!!
Okay...with that said...Yes, I am very jealous at this moment in time. On my SILs blog she has stated that, "Vickie will be doing a live blog and chat...from my living room. Her hotel doesn't get DIY; I knew having the satellite television so I can get it would come in handy." Vickie is going to be in her living room! What I would do to be there. Of course, SIL has a pattern in one of Vickie's books so there might be a small connection there. :) But to be a small part of that would just be wonderful. I'm assuming that SIL is tickled pink. Maybe someday...a girl can dream.

Bunny's Tail

I've started on Bunny's Tail. It is put out by Twisted Threads with the original artwork by Mary Burton and the needlearts adaptation by Ruth A Sparrow. I tried and tried to find a link to the finished picture online but came out empty handed. So I have scanned the front cover of the chart. I am going to do this for my online groups "Spring" themed SAL (Stitch-A-Long). Below is a picture of both the finished project and what I have done so far. I haven't done that much at all so you won't be able to really tell what it is.

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