Outskirts of Tornado Alley

We live on outskirts of "Tornado Alley". Every year, about this time, at least one severe weather alert sends us to our master closet with our kids... and enough food, water, and diapers to last us a day.

After receiving two phone calls last night from the Sherman Emergency Alert system, which advised us to "seek immediate shelter", we woke our kids up and held our annual "Tornadic Winds" gathering in the closet. So as not to alarm them, we sang songs, played flashlight games, talked about Bible verses we've memorized, told stories, and had snacks for those who were hungry.

After some strong winds and loud noises on the roof, it was silent for a while. So Brad and John ventured out to see what the weather station was reporting. We were clear to come out! The ground was covered in hail, about the size of ping-pong balls (I don't think it was quite as big as golf balls. :)) We're all very thankful that no one was hurt!

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In other news, John had his 1-month follow-up visit with the dentist (from his fall I wrote about ages ago, in the last post). She was very impressed with how well his teeth look. They've moved back into their correct places! And although they're turning a gray-ish color, she wasn't concerned about that. She said that's the nerves trying to heal themselves. She advised me that we aren't out of the danger zone yet, and there's still a possibility of the roots dying (and the teeth needing to be pulled out). But if things continue in their current trend, he should be in the clear! What a relief!

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Is it bad for kids to eat bird feed? How about babies? I'm hoping it just counts as some good fiber or something, because John was sharing his unusual snack with Truman out on the back porch yesterday! If they start making little birdy noises, I'll know why.

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Knock-Knock jokes have become a big hit around our house lately. (I use the term "jokes" loosely!) Here's a sampling:

Evelyn: Knock-Knock
Brad: Who's there?
Evelyn: Bear
Brad: Bear who?
Evelyn: Necessities
EVERYONE: (Dancing and singing and jumping around like Baloo in Jungle Book...) "We've got the bear necessities, those good ol' bear necessities... forget about your worries and your strife!!"


John: Knock-Knock
Brad: Who's there?
John: Flower
Brad: Flower who?
John: Skunk
Brad: "Eeeeeeeewwwwww!!!!!!!!! How does that skunk always hide behind a flower???"