Matt, Tiffany Jane, & Baby Bean's Shower

We got to come together to celebrate with my brother and his wife for their upcoming arrival.  Since they are huge Nebraska Cornhusker fans, we thought it would be fun to throw a tailgate baby shower.  We mixed it up with school colors and baby boy shower decor. 

A huge thank you to Tiffany & Chad for opening their home to all the fun.

Matt & Tiffany Jane with the shower cakes.

The cakes were white torted with raspberry mousse and buttercream icing and a red velvet with cream cheese icing.  It was a fun to make the cakes for them.

Aunt Janet, Jackie, Kenzie, Hannah, and Melissa sporting their school colors.

Grandma Linda (my mom), Tiffany Jane, and Grandma Debbie (Tiffany's mom).

Sherri and her girls, Hannah and Kayla.

We had a great time.  We played a baby shower word scramble game and a Price Is Right themed game.  Way to go Aunt Diane!!  She was only $0.03 off without going over!!

They received so many wonderful things, but this was the most appropriate.  They call their growing bundle "Baby Bean" and Aunt Janet found these adorable onesies made by Jelly Belly, and this one says "Baby Bean" on it!  How cute!! ; )

Family fun

Well, when we planned this weekend shower we were hopeful that many would come!!  The last time I saw my aunts, uncles, and cousins was Dec. 2008, which it had been seven years before that.  Unfortunately, I don't get back to the St. Louis area often so seeing my extended family is a pleasure when I get the opportunity!!  When I got word who was making the trip to my mom's I was excited and very thankful for them showing their support because it isn't a quick trip for them either. 

So here's the head count at my mom's . . . mom and dad, Aunt Denise, Aunt Diane, Sherri, Kayla, Hannah, Aunt Janet, Aunt Joan, Uncle Clem, Mindy, Garret, Cassie, Zack, Mackenzie, & me.  At Tiffany & Chad's house they are hosting Melissa & Jackie. 

When we returned from decorating Tiffany's house for the shower yesterday, the first van full had just arrived.  Here my sister is getting a massage from my cousin Sherri's little girl, Hannah.   

Matt & Tiffany Jane came over for sloppy joes, so afterwards Zack got Uncle Matt to play the Wii with him. 

Some of the family hung outside . . . Tiffany, Chad, Cassie, Melissa, Mackenzie & Jackie.

Hannah was playing with the ball when it popped, so she decided she was a "chick" in a cracked egg.  LOL - so cute!!

Mom & Dad

Twins, Aunt Diane & Aunt Denise, and Aunt Janet missing her other half (twin, Aunt Joan).

Hannah graciously performed her "Party in the USA" dance.  So afterwards, Cassie & Jackie decided to join in the fun!!

Tiffany, Mackenzie, & Melissa

A big thing that happens when we get together . . . Scrabble.  We were wating the arrival of the Radins.  The first round was Aunt Denise, Aunt Janet, my mom & dad.  Dad won - a from behind victory.  When Uncle Clem arrived it was time for the second round with mom, dad, Uncle Clem and Aunt Joan.  Apparently, dad won his second from behind victory.  We'll see who plays and wins tonight!!

Climbing a Tree

The other day my mother comes in from the backyard and says, "Angela, your daughter wants you to take a picture of her." 

"Why?" I ask.

Well, when I get out in the backyard I found her high up in a tree.  You see, Zack and Kenzie were playing with one of those cheap balls (from Wal-Mart) and it got stuck in the tree.  So, in his efforts to try and knock it out he also got a croquey ball stuck.  Cassie loves a challenge and she loves to climb trees.

She so had to pose in the tree. LOL

Then she started climbing higher to try and get the balls out.

Even though she scared the crap out of me and her grandmother, she did succeed and got both balls out.

Making her way back down.

On the ground safe and sound.

Omaha Royals Baseball Game

Tonight my Mom & Dad took us to the Omaha Royals' season home opener baseball game.  This is the Royals last season in this stadium because they are building a new one west of Omaha.  We were right behind home plate, five rows up.  That is the closest we have ever been at any baseball game.  The nice thing was we didn't have to worry about getting hit with a baseball since we were protected by the netting; however, that also meant no opportunities to catch any foul balls.

Cassie & Zack (Kenzie in the background taking my picture taking a picture).  We got some goodies (freebies) - a magnet schedule (not sure it will do us any good in ND), a pen, and blue and silver beads to wear.  The kids got noise makers, too. 

My mom, Kenzie and my sister.  Kenzie wanted to make sure she got to sit next to her Aunt Tiffany. 

My  dad returning with the second round of beverages.  It was dollar pop and beer night.  Of course, we were chugging the dollar pops.

This was so funny.  At the bottom of third inning they did a relay.  We are use to seeing Ketchup, Mustard, and Onion (or Relish, depending on whose stadium we're in), but here in the Omaha Royals' stadium the relay consists of Steak, Corn on the Cob, and Beer.  The dude (a fan from the game) in the steak costume won and he won a dinner and something else.  Too funny yet way cool at the same time.

Well, we made it to the 6th inning and decided it was time to leave.  It was a little chilly!!  But it was a great time with family.  Thanks Mom & Dad for taking us!!  Love ya!

UGH!!

One of the causes of the power outage in ND, along with thousands of poles that snapped like twigs.  It seems that some may be without power for up to a week longer.

Packed, Loaded and Heading out

Well, I woke early Saturday morning, close to 5:30 a.m.  I was anxious, not to be leaving for our most anticipated trip, but hopeful the electricity would have come on overnight.  Unfortunately, it had not.  I couldn't go back to sleep, but I wasn't going to get out of bed because it was sooo cold in the house.  I know it was only 63 degrees in the house, but still that's a bit chilly!!  The kids woke up a little before 6:30 a.m. and were anxious to get the car loaded since we still didin't have electricity.  Oh, wait they found their Easter baskets and then were ready to load the van.

By the time we loaded the van and gathered as many of the last minute things we could think of, it was a little after eight.  The kids were ready to climb into the van and head out.  Now, Cassie and I were a little slow to get in and head out.  I wasn't really ready to leave Jay for an extra two days and Cassie knew she wouldn't be seeing her dad till late July.  I think I was still thinking, and hoping, the electricity would come on and we could unload the van and wait till Monday to leave.

Well, the power never came back on so we left a little after eight.  Our agreement was if the electricity came on and I was less than an hour away, we would turn around and leave when we were originally scheduled to leave, Mon., Apr. 5th.  We were hopeful it could still come back on, but we  had heard it could be as late as Wednesday before the power was restored, which is why we decided to start our extended trip earlier than originally planned. 

The kids and I drove from Bismarck to Council Bluffs, Iowa to my parents' house.  Jay phoned a few times during the drive, but the power was never back on.  This was suppose to be an easy drive.  Go east on I-94 to Fargo and then take I-29 south all the way to Council Bluffs. It took a little around three hours to get to Fargo and I was feeling good about getting through Fargo and getting onto I-29.  However, after driving for a while something just didn't seem quite right, and it wasn't.  I was actually heading north.  UGH!!!  Luckily we were only 34 miles north of Fargo which made our trip almost an extra hour longer (speed limit in ND & SD is 75 mph), but we arrived in CB around 6:40 p.m. Jay phoned about an hour after we arrived to let us know . . . the power was back on.  Go figure, if we would have stayed it wouldn't have been on till Monday or later, but since we left it came back on. 

As of yesterday, there were still thousands without power our area.  So, Jay is lucky to have it back.

Early Easter

With our pending early departure, we were able to make arrangements for the kids to receive their Easter baskets early.  So, in the darkness of the night, the baskets were placed on the floor of Mackenzie's room to await for them to find early Saturday morning. 

Our Black Good Friday

By 8:45 p.m. on Good Friday, we were approaching blackness in our home as we were still without power. We had packed all we could remeber in such a hurry and now we were waiting for Jay's return so we could eat (he was bringing subs from Subway).  Cassie decided to use her reading light to do some quick notes on her school assignments, which I did not get them all typed up for her first two months away.  That was one of the things I was working on, and planning on finishing over the weekend before our electricity went out. 

Oh, it was graduallly getting darker outside and even darker in the house.  We found as many candles as we could to try and light up areas.  Of course, they were Yankee candles so you can only imagine the aroma of the mixture of scents.

Eating by lantern.  The closest I ever want to get to camping; however, I would still like to have all the amenities of power available at my discretion!!

After we ate, we sat around on the sofa.  This picture of Mackenzie & Jay is misleading because with the flash it looks awfully bright in the house.  In reality this is what it looked like . . .

Mackenzie came up with the idea that we should sit around and, with the flashlight below her chin shining staight upwards on her face, "Tell stuuupid stories."  Not scary stories, but "stuuuupid stories."  So, we did.  I tried to get pictures, as each had his own flashlight and when one would turn off the next would turn on and add to the "stuuuupid story."  It was sooooo funny.  It made the fact that we were without power seem to go away briefly. 

When we went to bed, I think we were all hopeful the electricity would come on over night.

Chaos

This is what packing in chaos looks like.

Things everywhere.

Boy sitting and gaming with no worries, while his mother is STRESSING!!!

A Spring Storm

Okay, so where have I been?  Well . . .

Thursday night when we went to bed the weather person was indicating we might get some some overnight.  Actually, earlier they had said we could get two to four inches of snow.  WHAT!!??  By the time we went to bed, they were only saying we could get one to two inches.  Really?! Still one to two inches in April - HELLO North Dakota weather fairy, it is spring. 

Around five a.m. I woke up to a the sleet pelting our bedroom window.  The wind was blowing so hard it was blowing the sleet horizontally and it was POUNDING on our window.  I had a hard time going back to sleep so finally around 5:40 a.m. I got up.  I thought maybe if I got on the computer I would get tired and be able to go back to sleep.  All the sudden, not really - it was 6:08 a.m., I saw a flash of light through the half moon window in our front door.  I wasn't sure what it was, because last I looked it was still sleeting horizontally.  Then all the sudden there was a huge rumble.  Yeah, thunder! 

I figured the noise was bound to wake one of the younger residents of our home, so I headed back to bed to lay and wait.  Nothing. No one. So, I thought I'd try to go back to sleep, and then it happened.  The light lit up our whole bedroom and the rumble that seemed to happen as quickly as the light flashed shook the house and rattled all the windows.  Our dog jumped up and opened our bedroom door with her nose and started pacing the hallway.  You see, she is just as scared if not more of storms than the kids are.  Jay got out of bed quickly to try and guide her into Mackenzie's room, and about that time Cassie woke to the rumbles and Mackenzie was shortly behind.  We conversed in the hallway briefly waiting for Zack, but he never woke up and the lightning and thunder seemed to be done.  So, we all crawled back into bed, our own, and caught a few more z's. 

When I woke up around 7:45 a.m., when I took a quick look outside this is what I found . . .

By 9:00 this is what we had . . .

As we were sitting eating breakfast the lights began to flicker.  The so-call storm that we were only suppose to get one to two inches from and be over by noon didn't seem like it was going away very quietly or quickly.  Before Jay left the house around 10:15 a.m. the lights has flickered several more times.  I told him, "If the electricity goes off, we (the kids & I) are leaving today!"  The snow, which was one of those heavy wet snows, was still falling at a rapid horizontal rate.  I joking told Jay, he better say bye to the kids because if the electricity went out while he was gone, preaching at the noon Good Friday service, we were leaving for Iowa.  Well, as I sat typing up school assignments, the lights kept flickering so the kids told me I better go get a shower, and I did.  The weather was terrible.  What normally would take fifteen minutes to drive into town took Jay forty minutes because of the wind, snow, and road conditions. 

Shortly after my shower, while eating lunch, the electricity flickered off long enough for the TV and Directv box to power off and then come back on.  The kids and I looked at each other and thought it was a cruel joke.  This didn't happen just once, it happened three times before the electricity finally went off and didn't come back on.  It was 1:03 p.m. when I called Jay and told him to come home and say good-bye because we were packing and leaving for Iowa.  I was joking but serious at the same time.  I had just started a load of laundry and the dishwasher shortly before the electricity went out - I wasn't really planning on leaving before Monday, April 5th for our extended vacation. 

So, when the power went off, this is what it looked like outside at 1:03 p.m. . . .

There was no sight to the end of this storm that was originally suppose to be over by noon.

We reported the outage, which the electric company was closed for the holiday.  WHAT?!  Closed for the holiday? Really?!  The automated system confirmed they were already aware of the outage and there was no estimated time of service being fixed.  So, the kids and I started packing.  Actually, the majority of the stuff was packed, all but me and my stuff and the stuff we needed up until we left.  I told Jay I would pack with the intentions to leave on Saturday if we were still out of electricity.  BUT I was hoping by committing to this action, the electricity would come back on and the packing in haste would have been for no apparent reason.  Can one use reverse psychology on the electric company??

Jay came home so he could drive me into town so I could go to AAA and pick up my Trip Tik for our trip.  The roads were horrible in our little subdevelopment, but once out on the main road they were passable.  When we got off at the exit, the city/town roads were a MESS.  They were covered in slush and had about a foot of standing water with the slushy snow mix.  It was a little after two p.m. when we arrived at AAA, and they had closed at noon for the Good Friday holiday.  UGH!!  That's another whole story, maybe for another time.  So, Jay ran me around to a couple of places that I needed to go before we left town, but we were still hopeful the electricity would come back on.  However, when we got back to the house it was still off and this is what it looked like outside at 4:00 p.m. . . .

So, while Jay went in to the church, I started packing my stuff and tried for over thirty minutes to get my AAA renewed over the phone for our travel (yet another story). 

Well, after a while, Jay phoned and said he wasn't getting any good news about the power outage and as much as he didn't want us to leave it seemed like it was the best thing to do.  So, the kids and I scurried around the house trying to pack and trying to remember all the little things that weren't on the list.  I told them we needed to get it done while we still had daylight because once it was dark, thank goodness that doesn't happen till around 8:45ish (on a sunny clear day), I figured we had a couple of hours to get done what we needed to. 

By the time the sun set and Jay returned from the Good Friday evening service, we were packed and ready to leave if the electricity didn't come back on by Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m.