Last Day of School!

 

before school...can't believe how much they look alike in this picture

 

 

Savannah and Madilynn's last day of school turned out to be quite eventful. 

 

I wanted to walk and pick them up but it kind of looked like rain so I check the Internet but it said no rain but when I checked the radar map it showed a huge green section coming right for us.  Then I heard thunder and decided to keep making dinner and drive.  2:45pm (10 minutes before school is supposed to get out) it started raining dumping and the tornado sirens started.  Austin and Olivia were at the neighbors so I texted her that I was coming to get them and have them ready.  We were soaked by the time we ran the short distance of two houses.  I sent them in the basement, it didn't seem like a tornado but it was raining hard and so I sent them down there just in case.  I keep checking the computer for an email from the school stating whether or not they were going to let the kids go...I figured with the sirens going they wouldn't but thought I would get something.  The sirens went off but it was still raining really hard so I decided to wait because it was raining so hard, by this time it's 2:55am and school is supposed to be out but I didn't feel safe in the rain.  The sirens started sounding again so I waited some more.  Then at around 3:02am the sirens stopped and the rain died down a little bit so we jumped in the car to make a run for it.  When I made it to the school no one was leaving the school. The buses were still there, the parking lot was full and the the road was backed up with cars.  So we sat and waited... the road was full of rain right behind us and the lighting was all around and there was no where to go. It got a little scary at one point when the thunder got close but there was nothing I could do. 

 

I pick up some neighbor kids too so everyone was texting and calling trying to figure out why they weren't letting anyone go.  I finally figured out that it was because there was a sever thunderstorm warning and they had to wait until that was lifted before they would let anyone go.  So I keep waiting. Finally I got a call from the school district stating what I had just found out but this wasn't until 3:15pm (20 minutes after school was supposed to be let out).  At 3:40 I saw the first car leave and then at 3:46pm almost an hour after school was supposed to get out the phone call came that the warning had been lifted and that kids were being let out.  It was still raining so they all stood with their teachers under the covered area until they were picked up.  It was so crazy and next time I will know to wait until the warnings are lifted not just until the sirens go off before I go to pick them up.

 

Meanwhile I felt bad for the teacher.  They were all ending their day Savannah's class were signing each others little books their teacher had made and Madi's class was having a birthday treat when the sirens went off and they realized it wasn't a drill.  Savannah's class headed to a "hot" closet and Madi still isn't sure where she went "somewhere with big red doors, that closed".  The sirens we found out don't only go off for tornado warning but also for high winds (which is what it was in this case) but since no one really knows you take cover and that's what they did...for about an hour.

I asked if they were scared...Savannah said her legs started to shake but she felt better at school because she had friends around and Madi said she wasn't scared but some kids in her class started to cry.

 

It was a memorable last day of school to say the least, one they will always remember. 

 

 

I did manage to get some picture though...we had to go back after we dropped of the neighbor girls for Savannah's because her poor teacher was on traffic duty in the heavy rain.

 

 Mrs Walters and Madilynn

 Savannah and Mrs. Harrington

 

 

They both had wonderful teachers, perfect for their personalities.  It was a great year!

Savannah improved all year long in all areas and Madi learned how to read, count to 100 and start adding and subtracting.

Here they are playing in the rain filled gutters and sidewalk after we finally got home from school.

 

Last Day of Preschool!

Olivia's last day of preschool today.  She had a great year, made new friends and learned so much thanks to her wonderful teachers, Miss Jenny and Miss Julie.  They did lots of fun things this past year and even got to go to the Science Center on a Field Trip, last month.

 

Olivia had so much fun in Preschool but is definitely ready for Kindergarten!

 

Great Job this year in school Olivia we are so proud of you!  We Love You!

 

 

preschool at the park

Olivia's preschool class walked to the park the other day and Austin and I got to join them.  They played on the big toy, played drip, drip, drop, and had snack.  It was fun to go spend time with Olivia and her class.

rotation in the clouds

 

 

We had another tornado warning yesterday.  It was Jason's birthday and since he got home late we just decided to ordered pizza, as I was getting in the car to go get the pizza around 7pm I noticed the clouds a little low and they looked really neat.  I got in the car and drove a block when the tornado siren started so I turned back around.  When I got home the kids where headed down to the basement.  But the clouds looked so cool I casually suggested (so I wouldn't scare the kids) to Jason to come outside.  We sat and watched the clouds start rotating right over our neighbors house...I know not really smart, but it was really neat.  At one point Jason came inside and on the news it said if you are between Ankeny Blvd and 18th Street seek cover...that's our neighborhood... but by that time it had past us and we didn't feel we were in danger.  It was really neat to watch though, if the wind would have been blowing as bad as it had the night before we would not had been standing there, we would had been with the kids in the basement.

Happy Birthday!

37 never looked so good. 

 

We love you dad!

tornado warnng

We just had a tornado warning a little over an hour ago.  We had just been talking about not having a warning in a long time when sure enough the sirens started going off.  When we turned on the TV and saw it was headed right for our town we sent the kids down in the basement.  I finished getting stuff and went down with them.  When I got down their they were crying and very scared.  I told them there was nothing to be afraid of and we started to clean the basement to keep their mind off of it.  I suggested a prayer to help them not be scared and to my surprise they all said "we already did...all four of us together." 
Needless to say a tornado didn't hit but there was a big storm, some of our neighbors lost shingles and trampolines moved into neighbors yards but not too much more.  But I did learn that my kids are learning about prayer and that made me very happy.

Olivia's Preschool Graduation!

 

 

Thursday, May 16th Olivia graduated from preschool.

They had a little precession

 did a little singing program

and then got their diplomas

and portfolios.

 The portfolios are really fun to look at, they have some of their best work in it and it shows how much they learned over the past year. 

 Olivia and her friend Rosie

Miss Julie, Olivia, and Miss Jenny

 

 

Olivia really had a great year in preschool, thanks to her wonderful teacher who made learning fun!

"O" for Old

 

 

It was "O" day at Olivia's preschool last week so they got to dress up like they were old.
Then yesterday their picture was in the newspaper.  Her teachers are great and always do fun stuff with the kids.
 

 

 

Jason's vacation...short but needed

Jason loses his vacation days every July and has certain months he can't take any days off.  He wasn't really supposed to take any days off in May but they let him take 3 days off plus he didn't have to work the weekend so he flew to Utah Saturday May 11th - Tuesday May 14th then took Wednesday May 15th off since he didn't fly in until midnight the day before.

He had a great time golfing with his dad and brothers, shopping, hanging out with family, and sleeping in and being with his mom on Mother's day.

Mother...

In my mind there is no better job than being a mother.  I'm so grateful that I am a mother, it brings me so much joy and happiness, and what makes it even better is that I am blessed to be able to be at home for my children.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women.

 We are all mother's because we have blessed a child's life one way or another, whether it is our own child's or someone elses.


I had a great mother's day!  Jason was in Utah but Savannah took charge and before I got out of bed the kids made me a poster with all their hands on it. Then they all made me cards and had other cards from school.  Then I got a special card from Austin that he made in Nursery that had his hand prints on it.  He was so excited to tell me how he made.  I love my children and so glad I get to be their mom.

Tulip Time

We decided to go down to the Pella Tulip Festival on Saturday, even though it has been snowing.  Last year we didn't go because the tulips all bloomed early and were already dead by the time the festival started and now this year they haven't all opened up yet, but it had been 4 years since we last went (Olivia was 1 1/2) so we decided to go anyway.

 

It was a nice little trip down, fun to spend time with just us and our kids.  We watched some of the parade, ate little pancakes (don't know the real name for them), brought home lost of pastries, saw the tulips, and played at the park...oh and had a snowball fight with the little amount of snow left.

 

Austin's fine, just was mad that we made him walk part of the way.

 

 

Really?

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 green grass

 

 

Thursday, May 2, 2013 white grass

 

 

(it has been snowing all day and is still coming down hard.)


Update:

 

Friday, May 3, 2013 white grass and driveway

 

(woke up to 5 inches. still snowing.)