How The Dust Blows...

Well, we officially endured our first dust storm. Better than a tornado I guess, but not pleasant. Here are some clips from the news, "...the wind peaked at 53 miles per hour shortly before 1 p.m. The middle of the day was the windiest because of the heat, Cunningham said. Wind speeds were comparable to speeds found in a tropical storm, which start at 39 miles per hour, he said. The wind was not tropical in nature whatsoever, he said."
""We had a lot of calls about arcing power lines, power lines down, power poles being snapped in half and trees being broken,' said Abilene Police Department Officer Jeff Hogue. There were no injuries or accidents attributed to the weather, he said. Other incidents that kept the department busy were loose signs and traffic lights, he said."
"The winds also blew in a dusty haze that reduced visibility in Abilene to one mile..."

We also lost our power for over an hour due to the wind. It was a crazy day! I put a couple of videos on the dropshots website for everyone to see too.

The pictures are from the Abilene Reporter News. (Several branches fall off an overloaded and unsecured pile on a trailer as the driver continues west on E. S. 11th St. at 1:29 p.m. Winds of 53 mph were recorded in Abilene at 1 p.m.; A stop sign is dislodged on the intersection of Maple St. and Industrial Blvd.; Target shoppers try to protect their eyes as the wind reaches 53 mph Saturday. Power lines and traffic signs were blown down throughout the day. Dust content in the air reduced visibility and caused a number of car incidents.)

you never know where toys will show up...

I thought that this was pretty funny, considering the whole key-hiding incident just a few days ago. Yesterday I opened the fridge and found one of Jesse's toys in it. He must have slipped it in there sometime when we had it open (at least I don't think he can open the door by himself yet...) It made me smile, so I had to take a picture of it.

Play Date with other MOPS moms

Jesse and I got out to the park today. It was gorgeous...right around 25 degrees Celsius. I was actually starting to sweat chasing him around. He just moves too much! He loves the park...the jungle gym and slides are his favorites. He likes to go down the big slide himself, but will tolerate going with you if there is no one to catch him at the bottom. He also likes the swings, but only for a few minutes and then he just gets bored.

Hide...and Seek (and Seek, and Seek)

Well, today Jesse and I played a game of hide and seek. Not the typical hide and seek you are probably thinking of (although he enjoys that as well). Today, he hid my keys, and I spent an hour looking for them. Normally this wouldn't have been a huge deal. But today, we were supposed to drive to Benjamin for Youth Group. I pick Mike up at school and we leave from there. So, while I am frantically searching the apartment for the keys, Mike is waiting at the school wondering where in the world I am. Today also just happened to be the day that he forgot his cell phone at home. So, I have no way of contacting him or driving to him. He calls. I miss the call by a half a second. Half an hour later he decides to start walking home. An hour late to pick Mike up I found the keys in a box, grabbed Jesse and dashed down the stairs to the van. We picked Mike up a block from home. So, we called the church, let them know we wouldn't make it, and are now spending the evening at home. Oh well, I should be thankful I found the keys at all and that they weren't in the garbage (although I did check there three times just to be sure). And the best part is, the whole time I ran around the house, Jesse followed me and looked at me with his wide, blue eyes and the occasional smile. I couldn't be mad at him, frustrated that he couldn't tell me where he put them, but not mad. It's a good thing he is so cute...

Here we go...

Well hello everyone! As most of you know, our family has a website of pictures and videos that I frequently update. But there are times when I just want to write something and don't have a picture to go along with it. Starting a blog seemed like a logical solution. So, here we go...an even deeper peek into our life here in Texas.

Now, for a brief update on what has happened since Christmas...We got home from a month of holidays up in Canada on January 10th. I think we brought some crazy weather back with us...we had freezing rain for days on end in January, and everything closes when that happens. We even had to miss our first Sunday back in Benjamin.

Jesse got a bunch of new teeth. Three molars around the Christmas holidays (that makes 11 all together now). He runs everywhere these days, most recently starting to walk backwards just for fun. He climbs up on everything (yesterday he figured out how to wedge his toes between the mattress to get up on the bed), gets stuck sometimes and he falls down lots too. He jabbers all the time, and we are actually starting to understand some words. He asks to be picked up, can ask for cheese (his favorite snack), say hi and bye, and my newest favorite - if I'm singing the ABC song he will say "A,B,C". I'm not sure if he knows what he's saying, but it's cute nonetheless. Doors...he's obsessed with doors. He likes to close them, but he also likes them to be open. A couple of days ago he closed a bedroom door and locked it. It took us a while to pick the lock. Now I hang towels over the top of the door to prevent them from being closed all the way. He likes to take my keys and try to use them on the door to get outside. And on Sunday, he opened a door at the church building. Luckily, the doorknobs in our house are just a bit higher and harder to work. He even knows how to work the safety chain on our outside door. These are things we have never taught him on purpose...it's kinda scary to realize all the things that they just pick up on their own from watching you. Jesse knows how to make some animal sounds. His favorite is a puppy. Whenever he hears one barking (or if you show him a picture of a dog or a toy), he makes a little woof too. It's very cute. He can moo and quack too.


A few days ago the whole family was sick with the stomach flu. Jesse first, myself a few days later and Mike the next morning. It was not fun, but we all survived. Mike is busy at school as usual...a bit busier since he missed a day when we were sick. Our family still travels out to Benjamin to meet with the church there. Mike preaches on Sunday, and we also travel out on Wednesday's to work with the youth group. Most weeks it feels like we never have any time to relax as a family together, but I suppose that's just part of life. If we weren't so busy, we might miss home too much. As for me, I keep very busy chasing Jesse around. Jesse and I still go to MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) which is wonderful, and we also get together with two other moms I have connected with here in Abilene (Krista & Miriam, and Donna & Tyler). Aside from Jesse, I try to get over to Curves a couple times a week in the evenings to get some exercise. Since the weather has been so nice (in the 20's Celsius), Mike and Jesse will walk home with me after I am done. It's a nice chance for us to talk and spend some time together, and Jesse loves the fresh air before winding down for bed. Pregnancy wise, all is well. 26 weeks along now...14 left to go. That's like 3 months! Kind of scary to think about (but that also means Mike will be done another semester of school in about 11 weeks, which is a nice thought). According to my pregnancy newsletter, the baby is about 14 inches in length and weighs around 2 lbs. And no, we don't know the sex of the baby nor do we intend to find out until it's born.

So there you go...a brief catch-up on our lives. I know Jesse's section is about as long as Mike and I combined, but be honest...we know that's who you really want to read about anyway!