The Texas weekend and since we've been home

Just as I suspected when I got out of a routine of blogging, it would be difficult to get back in it. So, after our arrival back in town from Texas last Monday, the break in posting continued until now. BUT. In my defense there was a tornado in Monroe...as everyone already knows...and therefore we were displaced for one night and then other stuff occurred due to the displacement. 

Here's the weekend and the return to our home broken down...

The Texas weekend was good except for the weather...which is huge for me. The travelers in our car were as follows...Grandma, John, Olivia, Maggie, Addy, Maya and myself. We arrived at the farm so late, the weather mattered not. BUT. The next morning began with a hopeful attitude...that I ALWAYS maintain. Nobody says a word..... Anyway, the most enjoyable event of the day was seeing William's face that morning as he discovered new people had arrived while he was sleeping the night before. So when he and I went to awaken Olivia and Maggie from their slumber he was pleasantly surprised as he pointed and said, "Look!" It was so funny. As the day wore on, it became boiling tater water hot, and I'm not even kidding. Believe me I wish I was. It was unseasonably hot for October at the farm and therefore my dejection set in quickly. People were melting everywhere. And if you were thinking the weather improved, you would be incorrect, because after the hot, came the rains and the colder weather. O.M.G. Worst October weather in 50 years. OK. That may not be true, but it's what I wanted to say to drive my point home home home. We made the best of the time spent there including a photo shoot of the two small boys in attendance, and took some country rides and fed Hank as many treats as we could fit in during our stay. In a blink it was time to head home and as we were pulling out of the driveway, we looked down the street and a tree had fallen across the road just across the street from our house. It was foreshadowing of the day ahead. 

At 10:47 Owen sent me a text saying Monroe was "about to get destroyed by a rainstorm." He was correct. I then texted Emma and Caitlin to ask if they were in a safe place only to find out Emma was at work and knew nothing about the event about to occur around her. Caitlin was at school taking cover in a stairwell. I later found out Owen was at lunch during the tornado. The boy loves a meal. I'm very pleased to say all people in town were safe and sound with no injuries, but certain neighborhoods looked like a forest due to all the downed trees. It was a mess of epic proportions. When we finally arrived home around 5:00, we had no electricity and after unloading the car, we were bored within 15. So, we went to the girls house because they had lights and that's when we found out Carlie spent tornado time in Emma's bathtub with Otis the dog and Lucy the cat...she forgot the bird during the kerfuffle of the frightening storm. But thank the Lord all was well with everyone in our family. It wasn't until the next afternoon that our lights came back on, which was just enough time to ruin all of our frig food. But all in all that was nothing compared to other people's houses having trees in them. I'll take ruined food over that. As a result of the storm I had the week off due to the school not having electricity until the end of last week and so we began again on Monday with only two snow days to spare for the rest of the year. It's gonna be a nail biter. 

But Austin and Lucas came to town last weekend and we were able to take some photos of the adorable child. 

     

In Corsicana we had a photo shoot with this cutie.

And then this one.

That's just a few of the cutest ones and I have so many more photos to post. You'll be seeing them as I spread them out over the next few weeks. And I have such an anticipation of taking more photos when the leaves begin to change. I'm looking forward to a beautifully colored fall.

I'll close with this... 

On Monday John and I went to gather some firewood in a nearby piece of land and then on Tuesday evening John, Olivia, Owen and I returned for a second scavenging. Well as the boys were gathering some stuff (wood is really really heavy by the way) Olivia and I became distracted by this very long piece of bark. It had been skinned off of a tree that was laying on the ground nearby, but our piece was still attached to a larger piece, and therefore no amount of tugging would set it free. We turned it and stepped on it and used our lumberjack ingenuity to free it from the bigger piece and it took both of us to get it back to the truck. We have NO IDEA what we're gonna do with it, but we won the day by obtaining it! Also, this was an actual conversation between Olivia and myself during the wood gathering experience. Me: "Olivia look at that piece of wood! It's perf!" Olivia: "I bet that's what woodsmen say to each other. Look at the piece of wood boys! It's perf! Hand me the chainsaw!" 

There was clearly some sarcasm in her tone. 

It's 1:13 and I'm sleepy as a cat. 

It's as if I'm going to bed at 9:00. 

What a waste.