Ohio Storms and Flooding

Wow. The last 24 hours have been crazy here. We have had about 10-15 thunderstorms in the last 24 hours. That have dumped 6 to 8 inches in certain areas in the tri-state. The last of which was tonight around 6:30 I think. This storm lasted almost an hour and we had a tornado warning in Brown Co. for over half an hour. The alarm just kept going off. As soon as it stopped it would start again. CRAZY. The sirens also woke us up this morning. It has been a long two days. But it is supposed to be over now. There are flash floods though. There were confirmed tornadoes in surrounding counties and supposed to be 4 different area's in Brown Co were there was upper level rotation. Thankfully, I don't think anything actually touched down. Everyone survived the storms but we are a little weary from all the chaos. I took the kids and went to look at some of the flooding. I have some video of it and would love to share it with you but so far it hasn't wanted to load and my movie maker is not working correctly. It keeps shutting itself off dut to an error. If I can ever figure out a way to resolve this then I'll post what I can. aw

yesterday was my birthday and Brian took me out to dinner on Monday to celebrate. Luke took these pics for us. LOL Alyssa

I have been trying to upload a video post of Brian and Luke at church camp last weekend for three days. But for some reason it just is not loading. I get an error message every time. So I give up. Please pray for our family. Especially for God to direct my path as far as a career goes. It seems everywhere I go people are saying DON'T BE A TEACHER...THERE JUST AREN'T MANY JOBS, ETC.... and the more I talk to others the more I keep hearing BE A NURSE. This is not something I was willing to consider even a month ago, but it really does seem to keep coming up. And there are many reasons that it seems to be the best decision especially given Ohio's economy right now. The only jobs in the paper on a consistant basis around here are truck drivers and nurses. And I don't think truck driving is probably the profession for me. haha It is sometimes tempting to think that it is too little too late anyway. That I don't have enough time to get a degree of any kind before everything falls apart with the alarming economy. But we must walk by faith and not by sight. It is so easy to get discouraged. Sorry for the downer. Trust and Obey right. love you all. aw

Luke and Brian at Church Camp

Luke and Brian spent the weekend at Butler Springs with Tom and Micah Claiborne and Darcy and Noah Pitts. It was a MY PARENT AND ME camp. I don't know about you but I think they had a blast. aw

The Cicadas have emerged and it is pretty wild. The kids think it is kinda creepy. Have you ever seen the movie "The Birds" or "Arachnaphobia"? Yea...it's kinda like that. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I am back online. At least for now. Hopefully everything will keep working well and I can enjoy blogging again. We just had the best weekend. My brother and sister in law were in from MI. and we were totally blessed by getting to see them. Exhausting as it was. Sat. we were up and at 'em by 6:30 am and after a big breakfast went to Uncle Ray's for some fishing and fellowship. Then most everyone went hiking before heading to see Prince Caspian. (two and and a half hours!) and so it went for the entire weekend. party on !!!!!!

I am sure that I am not alone when I say that at times it seems that we are heading in the wrong direction at mach speed. And at first the gas prices, economy, lack of a decent presidential candidate and so on can make you lose hope. If you let it. But is is like I told my husband. We have to totally surrender to Him in everything. Just let Him hold us in his right hand and carry us through this life. Even though it sure doesn't appear to be adding up to the life we thought we were going to have. He is still in control. One step at a time one day at a time. There have been several times lately that I have caught myself thinking. What if this the last time you ever.... see a movie, kiss your family, go to bed, wake up, etc. and it is surreal. Just remember HE IS COMING BACK AND NO ONE KNOWS THE HOUR. BUT EVERYDAY WE ARE ONE DAY CLOSER TO HIS RETURN...are you ready? I SURE HOPE SO!!!!!!!
God Bless. adk

My feeble attempt at posting a blog.

OK. You all made this look so easy and it probably is. But I am learning here by trial and error. So, I wanted to post some pics of "the fam" and for some reason by computer is not cooperating so I guess that will have to come later.

Anyway, Luke just had his 1oth birthday. He is so proud to be in double digits. He was thrilled with the money he received and also with the gifts. Especially the shotgun his daddy bought. This is a tough one for mom. But Brian takes them hunting and to shoot skeet and they seem to be rather fond of this time with dad. And of course, Luke is not allowed to touch the gun unless dad is right there teaching him and watching him. But me being the overly protective female in the house am struggling with the concept. But I know their dad is very careful with them. Luke is a joy.

Most of you probably know by now that they are all back in public school. After almost two years of homeschooling we decided enough was enough. It is time for mom to finish college (good Lord willing) and they all seem so happy to be back at school. I know it is because they missed their friends but still it makes me wonder if I was really that terrible a teacher. It has been interesting to watch them go back after such a long time at home. It seems to me that they are trying much harder to please their teachers than they ever did me. They didn't seem to care if I was pleased or not. I guess it's because I'm mom. So even though there is endless controversy on homeschooling and it is a wonderful thing. For our family I believe public school is the way to go. At least for now.

Eli is doing well too. He is enjoying being back at school and always comes home full of stories. He's quite the talker. He has been reading the Red Wall book series all year. He is my reader. He loves a good book. Which of course is great. His middle name should be Paul instead of Quinton I tell him because he reminds me so much of my dad. He is very goal oriented and never seems to have any trouble attaining his goals. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and is a born leader. All traits that remind me of his papaw.

Grace is taking violin lessons and I must say that I feel a lot of pride every time she plays. This little girl is so interesting to me. She loves tuna straight from the can, wants pets like hermit crabs and frogs, she likes fishing and will even throw the fish back in by herself. Her big brothers even had a hard time with that one. haha She had been asking to play the violin for almost a year when Brian finally looked me in the eye and said, "She's doing it." And she is, beautifully. Her teacher says she has beautiful form and she can almost play twinkle twinkle little star without any screeching now. :) It truly has been a difficult instrument to learn for both of us. Oh yea, That's the bonus. Mom has to learn to play too since I am her teacher the other 6 days a week. Her first recital is in two weeks. She wants me to buy her a black dress so that she will look like a real violinist. How cute is that. Well enough gushing for now. You can probably tell that I am a little proud of them all. Hope you have a blessed day. ADW