Last Day of Camp in Pictures

It stormed last night so we were a bit concerned about the status of camp this morning. The rain cleared out around 7am and cloudy skies gave way to sunshine and humidity. That's fine, though. We still had a great day. Sherri (another mom) took a photo of me and the boys first thing this morning. (Click on the photos to make them bigger)
The theme of the week was Spy Cubs. Every station had a James Bond theme to it. During opening ceremonies, the boys were introduced to James Bond himself! They thought it was cool.
Our first station of the day was Secret Agent Training Camp where the boys tackled the rope bridge,

they learned how to properly dangle from a helicopter,
and how to ride a bull (that's Daniel).
While at this station, I stopped to talk to Rodger, our Packmaster and Director of the entire Day Camp, who came to watch the boys.
Our next station was Bond, James Bond where the boys learned about spy gadgets,
and how to get away from a bomb while tied to another person.

They also learned how to knock someone over with a handshake.
We then stopped for lunch and one of the boys' grandfathers (a heavy duty Boy Scout himself) gave the kids a knot lesson.
He even showed Hannah how to make a square knot. She got it very quickly.
James Bond came by to tell us about a special bead the boys could earn and posed for a photo with our pack.
Their last station of the day was License to Grill which was a cooking station. They made "sub" sandwiches with grilled bologna.

and martinis (ginger ale, lemon juice and orange juice) They also made hand bombs (marshmallows, frosting and licorice)

It was then back to the tent for free time (have I mentioned how much I hate free time?) until closing ceremonies. For some, that meant more knot tying.
Right before the end of the day, Rodger came back over for a photo with his pack.
We all headed home, exhausted, but having learned a lot from our week at camp. Next month, Jacob and Mike get to spend three days and two nights at overnight Webleos camp.

This One Time at Cub Scout Camp...

No no no. It's not like that! LOL!

It was a late arrival day for camp since it was Family Night and it ran until 8pm. We only stayed until a little after 7, though. Today's activities were fishing, leather crafts and codes & ciphers. I think that the boys enjoyed the fishing most of all.

We separated the boys into three groups for the fishing. Along with the bluegill that were swimming around, there were also painted turtles in the water looking for a worm. Daniel managed to catch the same one three times. However, because it's a heavy turtle and they were using little bamboo poles, it would fall off just as Daniel would pull it out of the water. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. That was good for about 20 minutes of pure entertainment.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until free time towards the end of the day. Before I tell the story, I have to ask who's genius idea it was to give these boys free time? I mean really. It's the worst part of the day for sure. Anyway, we had about 1 1/2 hours to kill before parents began arriving. One of the packs next to us set up a baseball pitching machine using PVC pipe and a leaf blower. The boys loved it. There was also a pick-up game of football, as well as your standard water gun fights. The kids were enjoying it. Some of the other parents and I were talking about the day's events when two boys (I'll just call them K and W...no they were not my boys!) fly into the tent, rolling on the ground. We broke up the fight and sat them both on their sit-upons for 10 minutes to cool off. After 5 minutes, I noticed that they were not cooling off since they were glaring intensely at each other. I had K turn around so that they couldn't look at each other for the rest of the time. After their time was up, we scolded them for fighting, told them to stay away from each other and sent them on their way. Five minutes later, one of the moms sees K trying to tear W's leg off. Before she could get there, a punch from W is thrown and lands right on W's mouth. K's lip is split open and is really bleeding. W is placed on his sit-upon for the duration as K is sent to the first aid tent.

K returns about 10 minutes later with ice. He, too, is told to sit on his sit-upon until his parents arrive. With about 10 minutes to go before parents arrive, I heard someone ask K why he was sitting in the tent. K tells this boy that it's because he's bleeding and we don't want blood to get everywhere. I decide to remind K of exactly why he's been placed there. He tries to tell me that he was not fighting, that he was punched for no reason. Good try buddy. Anyway, Jill (one of our walking leaders) talked to both boy's parents about the incident and I guess we'll try again tomorrow. No, they were not expelled from camp. It's been a long, hot week and something was bound to happen eventually. I just wish I knew why they were fighting.

I don't know if I want to know what's going to happen tomorrow!

Camp Photo Post

Wow! I'm exhausted from my first day at camp. The kids had a great time, though. Hannah loved the fact that she got her own shirt. The boys earned their BB gun belt loop today. Of course, Daniel had his gun taken away for a few minutes because he fired before he was told to. In all fairness, it did sound like the guy said to fire. Anyway, I got to shoot, too, and I impressed the heck out of some of the dads that were there. It was a lot of fun. No belt loops for adults, though! :( Here are some photos...

Jacob sits before opening ceremonies.
The BB gun instructor gives the kids a quick lesson in gun safety.
Jacob gets the gun ready (he's just to the left of the guy in Maroon)
Jacob fires!
Daniel just before getting the gun taken away.
Daniel took one of me shooting, too!
The next station was learning how to make flashlights. Daniel shows his off.
During the lunch break, the kids like to soak each other with water. Hannah was the recipient of a lot of water. She loved it!
Jacob gets Daniel!
The challenge for today was dropping an egg from a tree and having it not break. Our little contraption worked!
They were learning to be spies in the afternoon. Here, they had to disguise themselves as fast as they could. Jacob gets dressed.
Daniel was upset because the clothes were too big. Because of his complaining, his team lost!

And we get to do all of this all over again tomorrow!

Camp and Some Junk About Daisy

The boys have been enjoying day camp this week. Mike's been with them the past two days and I get the next three. I guess today they got to do archery. Of course, Jacob took it very seriously but Daniel...oh Daniel. Apparently, he wanted nothing to do with the target and thought it would be more fun to see how far he could get the arrow to go. That's my Daniel. I can only imagine how he's going to do tomorrow...they're doing BB guns. I guess I was wrong about those heading into 3rd grade and up being allowed to do them. That boy's going to need a lot of supervision.

Hannah's excited because she gets to go to camp tomorrow. I don't know what they do at the Tot Lot but I hope it's fun.

The vet wanted to see Daisy today to do a well bunny check. Hannah and I took her in and I don't know if she thought she was going back to the store or what but I've never seen a bunny shake so bad in all of my life. The vet came in and asked for more detail about Ruby. He did tell me that the plant was, indeed, probably what did it. That's why the houseplants are now outside. He had just gotten through telling me how sweet she was when she nipped him. Thankfully, he thought it was funny. It didn't help that he was trying to check her teeth at the time. He then showed me how. He also let Hannah listen to Daisy's heart with his stethoscope. She thought that was the coolest thing. They told me that Daisy weighs 1.5 pounds (which is good for her age...she'll get to be around 3.5 pounds) and that everything appears to be normal. That's awesome to hear.

We came home and Daisy decided that her new favorite thing is the air conditioning vent. She'd lay on it and roll onto her back and rub the back of her head on it. She did it like 10 times in a row. I don't know if she was hot or if it was like getting a little massage. She likes to head-butt people, too. Hannah was getting mad because Daisy kept head-butting her arm. I told Hannah that Daisy just wanted to be pet. Once I told her that, she thought it was funny.

Daisy desperately wants Guillermo to love her. Daisy's always trying to groom Guillermo, which is the funniest thing because Guillermo just gets annoyed. It's just awesome that her little personality is finally starting to show. She's very assertive yet very loving. She's really becoming part of the family.

Where Has This Month Gone?

It's hard to believe that June's almost gone. It feels like the summer's over already. That makes me sad.

The boys have Cub Scout Day Camp this week. The house is so quiet without them here. It's been very strange. I can imagine they're having a great time, though. Mike went with them today and is going with them tomorrow. I'm going Wednesday through Friday. Should be interesting. I can't wait to hear about what all they did when they get home.

I got a call from the vet this morning...I wasn't able to get to the phone and they left a message. It said, "we're calling with the results of Ruby's fecal exam. It came back fine, so Ruby should be nice and healthy! Have a great day!" I wanted to cry. I called them back and told them that she was not healthy, that she had passed and I swear the receptionist almost dropped the phone. They wanted to know all of the specifics, so I told them, all while crying. I couldn't believe I became a blubbering baby when I was talking about her, but I did. I'm going to take Daisy in for a well bunny check tomorrow and to try to schedule her spaying.

Daisy is definitely not Ruby. Of course, I knew I wouldn't get the same bunny so don't think I was looking for a replacement. She is still little, though, so her personality will continue to evolve. One thing she does like Ruby is roam the whole house. Ruby always liked Hannah's room and would just hang out up there. Daisy likes Jacob's room and is currently sleeping in there. We're going to have to work on the nipping that she likes to do. It's not hard but it's very annoying.

Weeelllll...

So, Ruby hasn't been gone for 24 hours yet and we've already gotten a new bunny. We were all just so heartbroken over the fact that she left so quickly that we needed another bunny in the house. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but we did it anyway. She's already making us feel better. She's really cute and is full of energy. She's been checking the place out...I know that she's looking for the other bunny she smells. She seems to be happy as she's binking (they run and then spin in the air which is a sign of extreme happiness in bunnies) all over the place. We've made sure to get rid of the plant that caused Ruby's death. Hopefully we'll have this one for longer than 3 months.

So, we'd like to announce Princess Daisy Dutch, a 3 month old Tortoise Dutch Rabbit. Her tortoise markings will get darker as she gets older.

Ruby

Ruby died about an hour ago. I think she ate that one lily plant in the kitchen and was poisoned. She hadn't eaten since Wednesday and feeding her baby food through a syringe just wasn't enough.

Anyway, we're all very sad. Hannah wants to go out tomorrow and get a new one. I have to admit that I do too.

Must Vent

I've just got to vent a little and then I'll be done.

The boys have Cub Scout Day Camp next week. I told our pack's coordinator that I could help Wed-Thursday only if Hannah could do the Tot Lot on those days. Today, she tells me that the lot is full. I told her that then I couldn't help. She said she'd make some calls and get back to me.

I told her four times that I hadn't been getting any of the e-mails about camp and was going into this completely blind. She would then tell me, "remember in the e-mail I sent?" NO! I DON'T REMEMBER BECAUSE I HAVEN'T SEEN A SINGLE E-MAIL!!!!!! She had my e-mail but decided that she didn't need to send it to that address because she had Mike's. If you send it to Mike, you may as well not send it at all! I bet he hasn't opened a single e-mail from her.

Why didn't she have paperwork and whatnot available and have a meeting about camp when the boys were decorating their buckets and stuff? That would have been the smart way to do it. Then she wouldn't have been chasing everyone down because I'm apparently not the only one.

I'm so mad and frustrated about all of this because now she needs all of this paperwork by tonight. Figures. I knew we should have skipped camp this year.

Ruby Update

Well, I managed to find a semi-holistic veterinarian. I didn't even realize those existed. One of the first questions on the new patient form was if we were willing to use alternative medicine. Of course, I checked yes.

Anyway, he looked Ruby over and does not think it's an obstruction (which is a relief since those are usually fatal for bunnies) but does say that she's got a lot of gas (probably from too many carbs) and potentially some sort of infection. He did give her an antibiotic and some pre and probiotics for the tummy issues. He gave her some of the medicine there and told me to give her another dose tonight. If she's not better soon, we need to take her back.

Poor Ruby. I just want her to start eating again. She's already lost some weight and only weighs 2.5 pounds. She can't afford to lose much more. I hope she feels better soon.

Hannah's Appointment

We saw the ENT this morning. They had an audiologist do another round of tests for her hearing and she actually passed! She did say that there was fluid behind that left ear still so we waited for the doctor to check her out.

He came in and looked in her ears and explained, in detail, what was going on. He then gave her a nose spray (which she'll be on for at least the next 4 weeks) and told her to "pop her ears." That required her to hold her nose, close her mouth and blow. While she did that, he was looking in her ear to see if any of the fluid escaped. I don't know if it did or not but he told her to do that 10 times a day until we go back in July. He did say that she shouldn't do it that day since he wants to see what her untouched ears look like. He's hoping that the air pressure will blow out the excess fluid. If it does, we're good, if not, we'll schedule the tubes.

Wow, this is a long process. Hannah's just happy that she doesn't need tubes right now.

Next up, Ruby's vet appointment.

Wow...It's Thursday Already

I've been so messed up all week. I don't really know why. I think that adding Jiu Jitsu into our schedule has thrown me off. Oh well.

Hannah has her ENT appointment tomorrow morning. She thinks she's actually getting tubes so she's not wanting to go. I don't blame her. I'm hoping they say that her ears have cleared and she won't need them, but I'm not counting on it.

Ruby hasn't quite been herself this week. I've got her scheduled to visit the vet tomorrow afternoon. She's just off. So sad. She is better than yesterday but she's not her nosy self. Poor girl.

The kids got a lesson in mating yesterday...Jacob went upstairs to get himself some socks out of his dresser when he came down to tell us the toads were fighting. I went up to take a look and, well, they were mating. Figures that we'd pick out a boy and a girl toad.

I've been going round and round with both Daniel and Hannah this week. Hannah's easy since she doesn't argue...she just cries. Very loudly. I'm over feeling sorry for her. She cried for 30 minutes last night because I forgot to bring her a butterscotch candy from Jiu Jitsu. Seriously. After she got the hint that Mike and I weren't playing, she stopped and told me that she had a headache. Ya think?

Daniel's having issues because I'm giving Jacob more freedom this summer and he's still stuck on our street. He's had his DS taken from him and he almost lost a playdate with his friend, Josh, because of the sassiness. Sorry, buddy, age has its privileges.

Jiu Jitsu's been going well. I'm sore in strange places, though. Under my left shoulder and my left hip are killing me. I'm sure it's from the shrimping thing we've been doing this week. I've been trying to shrimp on my other side but it's hard when you have a specific move you need to do and it calls for using your left side. Oh well. I'll get used to it.

I totally embarrassed myself today. I got an e-mail from Jacob's baseball coach saying that they had changed the field for Jacob's game this weekend. I wrote back and asked if practice for tonight is the same as last week and he said that there is no practice since there is a game. Ooops. He would have missed it had I not asked. I did feel like a total moron, though.

Father's Day and Some Other Stuff

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. I'm a little late, but it's still Sunday so there you go.

Yesterday, we found out the results of last week's TKD testing. All of the boys are now low brown belts (yay!) and Hannah is now a low green belt. The boys can't test again for at least 4 months although Hannah is eligible to test for high green in August. It'll be strange to not have everyone test.

Last night, Mike and I got a sitter and had a double date with Roxanne and Stephen from TKD. We went to this new wine bar and had a great time. It was cool to order the wine since you'd get three glasses in the "flight." I had two flights and was, pretty much, drunk. Although, I did it with class. LOL! Had we all not had babysitters to send home, I'm sure we would have been there for another couple of hours, and Stephen wanted to as he was ready to order his third flight of wine. I really like hanging out with Stephen and Roxanne. It's so nice to have friends that have kids the same age and that we get along with so well.

This upcoming year will be my last year in MOPS. Although I was told that I should really be on the Steering Team, I decided that I didn't want that responsibility and never volunteered. So, color me shocked when I got this e-mail from Lynne, my table leader from this last year (it was sent to me and Leah, another girl from my table...she's on steering next year so she's in the know):

It is so awesome that you two are going to be table leaders! You are both going do a fantastic job! Hope that I am at one of your tables! Lynne

WHAT!?! Ummm...that's the first I've heard about this. I called Lynne and she laughed when I told her that I had no memory of saying that I'd like to be a table leader. I told her that I would be willing to do it but was just in shock. She actually laughed at me! It's so like me, though, that I wouldn't remember doing that. Oh well. So, I guess I'm going to be a table leader next year.

Weather Rant

Yesterday afternoon, they were saying that we were going to get some storms. My weather radio went off for a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and I got a little concerned because we were going to be out and about. At the time, storms were heading to our north (we were scheduled for storms in the evening) and the ABC (why was I watching ABC? Don't know) weather guy was saying that if the people up north had signed up for Weather Call, they should be getting a call about now. I thought that would be a great thing to have...that if we were at TKD or baseball, the phone would ring and I'd know about severe weather heading our way. It was $6 for three numbers, so I signed up both mine and Mike's cell numbers (if we're at home, I've got the weather radio, TV and internet so the home number wasn't necessary).

We get home from TKD and we're watching NBC (that's more like it) when Gary breaks in to say the storms have started. It was supposed to just be a quick break during commercials when Skytracker (their helicopter) actually sees a tornado drop down. Gary starts yelling that there are no Tornado Warnings for that area but everyone needs to get in their basements now. You can hear Jeff Penner, their weather producer, on the phone with the Weather Service telling them that they saw a tornado on the ground. Suddenly, my radio goes off for a Tornado Warning. My cell starts to buzz and I'm thinking it's the Weather Call. It wasn't. It was the baseball league saying that all baseball had been cancelled (thank goodness because I wasn't taking Jacob anyway!). We ended up having two severe thunderstorm warnings and one tornado warning and I never got a call. I was mad. I wrote to their service center and decided to write Bryan Busby (the ABC weather guy) as well.

Bryan wrote me a nice letter back saying that we were never in any specific danger and actually weren't in the warning area (our house was 2 miles from it). He forwarded my e-mail to a lady at Weather Call, who sent me this letter (I've bolded some of my favorite lines):


-----Original Message-----
From: Valerie WeatherCall
To:
Sent: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 9:01 am
Subject: WeatherCall performance

Dear Barbara-

Bryan Busby forwarded your email to me. First, please make note from our website that we have two methods to contact us: info@weathercall.net or 1-800-260-6695.

I have pasted the map from your registration here, plus the 3 warnings issued for Johnson County during last night’s storms, using a tighter view, minus the radar reflectivity so it’s easier to see that your home was never in the precise warning areas issued by the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, MO. WeatherCall performed exactly the way it was designed-to only call you if the latitude and longitude of your home falls INSIDE one of these National Weather Service warning boxes, of which each corner also has a very precise latitude and longitude value.

You may find it helpful to spend a few minutes reading the information on this page http://www.weathercall.net/wc_whatisit.html which explains how the new storm-based warnings work, and why WeatherCall is so accurate. If you’re still “disappointed, please contact me personally, and I’ll remove you from the system and refund your money. However, I’d strongly suggest you use the $6 dollars towards purchasing a weather radio which will alert you for any storm, ANYWHERE in Johnson County’s 477 square miles, whether it is going to affect you or not.
Regards,
Valerie E. Ritterbusch
Vice President / Meteorologist
WeatherCall


I was mad when I read that. So, I wrote her back.


From:
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 10:16 AM
To:
Subject: Re: WeatherCall performance

Dear Valerie,

I'd first like to say that I did contact you at weather call but got no response, which is why I contacted Mr. Busby.

Had I realized when I signed up that it was only if a storm hits my house, I would have never signed up. The reason I did sign up was so that my cell phone would go off if I was out in Johnson County, not if I'm sitting at home with the weather radio I currently have (so I do not need to "use the $6 towards purchasing" one as you so rudely said to me), as was the case last night. If I am at home, I have access to the television, internet and my weather radio and find it unnecessary to have someone call me for a storm. I also had it set up to call my husband's cell phone and he was right in the middle of it all...away from home, but still in Johnson County.

Please refund my money as I will be using it to sign up for The Weather Channel's weather call that will actually "alert me for any storm, ANYWHERE in Johnson County’s 477 square miles, whether it is going to affect you or not."

By the way, thanks for the excellent customer service. I appreciate the condescending tone you gave me in your e-mail. I'm also sending this to Mr. Busby so that he can see how his new service talks to its customers.
Barbara



I then got this, very quickly, in return. Again, my favorite part is bolded.



Barbara-
I had no intention of being rude or condescending; I was simply trying to further explain how precise the warning process is. Bryan did not have time to zoom in on the warning polygon maps, and remove the radar so the actual warning area was more easily displayed, thus I took the time to do so, hoping I was helping you better understand county vs. storm-based NWS warnings.

Based on your comments, I suspect you may be under the understanding that the cell phone will be called if the cell phone is in a warning, regardless of where the cell phone travels. This is not the case. That would require your cell phone to be GPS enabled, and to match up it’s location with an NWS polygon. There is a devise capable of doing this, but it costs around $1,500 dollars and some $20 to $30 dollars per month for the data feed. WeatherCall geocodes your house, and will call your cell phone regardless of where it has traveled to notify if your house has fallen inside a NWS polygon.

I have issued a refund and have removed you from the system, because our system does not provide wide area, broad-brushed warnings, which is what it sounds like you are interested in.

Regards,
Valerie Ritterbusch
Vice President / Meteorologist
Media Weather Innovations
http://www.mediaweatherinnovations.com/



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great customer service, right? LOL!!!

Look Who We Found In My Garden

I'm pretty confident that this is the bunny's mom. She was just hanging out eating birdseed. Hannah's worried that she's looking for her baby. She had little fear as she let us walk right up to her. When she did hop away, she did so leisurely. Not good. Anyway, I thought it was cute and it cheered me up a bit. Oh, and Jacob said to me, "mom? You know how you dissected a cat?" I said, "yes." Jacob says, "can I dissect the bunny?" Figures. By the way, I said no.

Well...

The bunny did not make it through the night. I'm so sad about that. The kids don't know yet since they're still sleeping and I'm not looking forward to telling them. They were so excited about taking him to the wildlife place. Ugh, I'm just so mad about it. Who knew you could get so attached to a wild bunny so quickly? I know there was nothing I could do about it. I just wish I could have gotten him there last night.

Anyway, I told Dad that I'd post a picture of the little guy, so here are a couple that I took last night while he was still alive.

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

The kids found a baby bunny on our front porch this afternoon. Clearly a victim of Guillermo the attack cat. It's so sad because it's not very old (it's eyes are still closed). Here's where the hard part comes in...it's still alive. Like I told Dad on the phone, if the kids (mine and a couple of neighbor kids) hadn't seen it, I would have picked it up and put it behind our bushes. I would have felt guilty about it but the last thing I need is to figure out what to do with an injured baby bunny. Of course, I ended up having to figure out what to do with an injured baby bunny anyway. It's currently in a box with some towels in it, waiting for the wildlife rehab center to call me back. I can't do anything with it today, so if it makes it through the night, I'm sure the kids and I will be taking it there in the morning.

Why, oh why, do I have to have such a soft spot for animals?!?

UPDATE: Operation Wildlife called me back and told me to keep him warm until I can get him there in the morning. I asked about feeding and they said that they will probably have to tube feed him and that's not something I can do at home. He did suggest putting some small apple chunks in with him so that maybe the bunny can nibble on that (probbly not, though). Ugh. Doubtful that I'll be able to sleep tonight worrying about this poor thing.

Hannah Update

We went to the pediatrician again today for a recheck of Hannah's ears and nose. Right ear is still clear, sinuses look okay but her left ear just won't clear. She also failed her hearing test again. The pediatrician said that she's done everything she can and that it's ENT time. So, we see the ENT on the 20th for her initial visit and to schedule the tube surgery. The pediatrician wants her to continue the nasal spray at least until we see the ENT but we're finally off of antibiotics for the first time since I don't know when. I just wish we didn't have to wait so long to see the ENT.

I'll keep you posted.

Quote of the Day

On Mondays, Hannah has gymnastics at 11:15am. I had to wake up Jacob at 10:30 so that we could leave by 11 because he was still sleeping (I've never had this problem before). On the way to the gym, Jacob was still half asleep.

He looks at me and says, "I hate it when Hannah has gymnastics in the morning. I'm such a wreck! I'm exhausted and I've got bed-head!"

Well, Whaddya Know?

Guess who has Lyme Disease? Yep...that'd be me. I've got the big ol' bullseye on my back and went to the walk-in clinic this afternoon. The nurse told me that it was the largest bullseye she'd seen. Nice. Other than a bit of a stiff neck and the rash, I don't have any other symptoms so the doctor said that it's still in a very early stage. He prescribed some antibiotics and told me to have a follow-up next week. According to him, the one round of antibiotics should take care of it. We shall see.

Oh, My Am I Sore

I had my first Gracie Jiu Jitsu class at our TKD school tonight. This was only the 5th class that they've had so I haven't missed much. What was interesting, to me, was the fact that some of the ground moves that we learned were easier to do with a heavier partner. I was paired with Roxanne for most of the evening and there was a move where we had to push our partner up with our knees and get our hips off of the floor. I couldn't do it with her but had no problems pushing up Master Dave. "See! I told you that you could do it!" is what he told me. I really struggled with the standing move that we learned and still don't really get it. Because I'm short, I really have to bend my knees down to get the right effect and I keep forgetting to do that. I did manage to make Stephen's face turn bright red several times (while he's trying to yell, "that's NOT it!").

Anyway, I had a great time even though my muscles are pretty wobbly. I'm feeling muscles I've never felt before. And, yes, I've actually signed up to continue.

Cloud Video

Here is one of the videos I took yesterday of the cloud that passed north of our house. Don't know how well you can see the rotation but it was freaky! The clouds in front are moving east and the ones behind are moving west. Scared me enough to send the kids to the basement! I love how I'm all "GET TO THE BASEMENT NOW!!!" and then kindly say, "and turn on the TV, okay?" LOL!

Weird and Wild Weather

We were sitting at TKD last night when Vivian's cell went off to say that all baseball games before 8pm had been cancelled (we didn't have one but Tammy's daughter did). We all looked outside and couldn't figure out why. When we were leaving, we spotted the ABC helicopter overhead and still couldn't figure out why. We looked to our north and spotted a wall cloud but it was well past us.

When we get home, Gary's on TV with Skytracker (their helicopter) pointing right at that wall cloud we saw. By this point, it was crossing over into Missouri. It was cool because there were some horizontal funnels. About this time, our weather radio goes off for a thunderstorm warning. We got a little hail and the rain was insane at times. Then, it stopped. I went outside to take a look at the clouds when I saw yet another wall cloud. This one was clearly rotating. I run back in to get my camera and to tell the kids to get in the basement and head back outside. While there, I see that my neighbor across the street is also out with a camera. We meet up in the middle of the street and are oohing and aahhing over the fact that you can actually see the inflow (clouds were moving straight up...getting sucked right into the main wall cloud). It never actually did anything more than just rotate but it was kind of scary. If I can get the video uploaded, I'll post it.

After we got the kids in bed, the real rain started. By the time everything shut off (a little after midnight) we had 4.4 inches of rain in the gauge and about 4 rounds of hail.

They say round 2 comes tonight with round 3 tomorrow. I guess we're in the Moderate Risk area for today so it should be interesting.

OH! I pulled this from the weather blog. Someone posted it there because there's been some discussion about whether or not the sirens should have been activated and/or tornado warnings issued last night. I thought that it's a good refresher for everyone, especially since this year (at least for us) seems to be much more active than normal.

About Weather Watches:

When conditions become favorable for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to develop, SPC usually issues a severe thunderstorm or tornado watch. Tornadoes can occur in either type of watch but tornado watches are issued when conditions are especially favorable for tornadoes. Watches encourage the general public to stay alert for changing weather conditions and possible warnings. A typical watch has duration of about four to six hours but it may be canceled, replaced, or re-issued as required. A watch is not a warning, and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that there will be severe weather!

Tornado Watch The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issues Public Tornado Watches to alert the public, media and emergency managers to organized thunderstorms forecast to produce three or more tornadoes or any tornado which could produce F2 or greater damage. The forecast event minimum thresholds should be at least 2 hours over an area of at least 8,000 square miles.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issues Public Severe Thunderstorm Watches to alert the public, media and emergency managers to organized thunderstorms forecast to produce six and more hail events of 1 inch (penny) diameter or greater, or damaging winds of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater. The forecast event minimum thresholds should be at least 2 hours over an area of at least 8,000 square miles.

Tornado Warning Tornado Warnings are issued when there is radar indication and/or reliable spotter reports of a tornado.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning Severe Thunderstorm Warnings are issued when there is radar indication and/or reliable spotter reports of hail of 3/4 inch (penny) diameter or greater, and/or wind gusts of 50 knots (58 mph) or greater.

ALMOST ALL SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING TEXT: “SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES AT ANY TIME. IF A TORNADO IS SPOTTED...ACT QUICKLY AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A STURDY BUILDING...SUCH AS A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM.”

It Starts Tomorrow

I finally got sucked in. Three guys from our TKD school recently went to California to become certified Gracie Jiu Jitsu instructors. They have set up classes at the TKD school. I will be starting Jiu Jitsu tomorrow. What have I gotten myself into? LOL!

Dreary Monday

I had a dream that I was out at a restaurant when the fire alarms went off. The next thing I know, Hannah's at the end of my bed, crying, because the weather radio's going off. I always think it's funny when real life enters dreams. Anyway, it's just a thunderstorm watch. It looks so dark and nasty outside. Finally, one during the day!

We've been outside almost all weekend. Lots of kids for Jacob, Daniel and Hannah to play with, lots of pool time, who could ask for more? Yesterday, Jacob had a baseball practice and Daniel was invited out with Brandon so Hannah was here alone. I told her that I'd go in the pool with her and got into my suit. Mike was telling me that I look better in my suit this year than last when he noticed something on my back. He thought it looked like a mole. I ran upstairs to look in the mirror, touched and yanked (without realizing what it was). I hear a loud *POP* and look at what's between my fingers. A tick. I run downstairs and show Mike. The thing was still moving and trying to burrow into the toilet paper it was nestled in. So freaking gross. I'm 99.9% sure it wasn't a deer tick, but I did tell Mike that he should expect me to have every symptom of lyme disease for the next week or so. He shook his head and said that he understood. LOL!

Sue recommended that I spray the yard down with Dawn to kill the ticks...I wanted to do that today but with the storms rolling in, I'll have to wait.