"My no like Ike"

That is how my 3yr old best described our Sunday without power. It was going to be pretty ordinary day, church in the morning, lunch & nap in the afternoon, then back to church for Growing Kids God's Way. So we thought.

It was a bit windy when we got to church around 9:30am. Liv stopped every few feet to try to figure out what was trying to knock her over. How do you teach a 16mth old about the air? Had a wonderful morning at church and learned way more than I could write in a few hours. When we left I noticed the wind had picked up quite a bit, but the kids & I hurried to the van.

More than once the wind threatened to throw me into other cars & even semi trucks. It was some pretty scary driving! I called Casey on my way (yes I cell & drive) and he told me our Bradford Pear tree out front was not fairing well in the wind & we had no power! As I approached one intersection after another, I noticed nearly every other one also had no power. Then we saw a firetruck horizontally parked at a light. Just as we got close, we were told to turn around. I didn't see any problem, until an electric transformer on the other side of the road blew up before my eyes w/ wires flying every which way. Talk about a little freaky!

So we go another way, then another, & finally we get near our road, but there is a tree blocking traffic one way & some nice residents controlling the traffic flow. Probably 15 cars can go from this direction around the tree, then 15 the other. Was pretty cool of them, especially the guy making sure everyone had enough room between the tree & the 3ft ditch. Very very narrowly did my van fit, but we got home safe & sound. (Still grieving my tree, mind you!)

Hannah had a bored day, she was stuck inside due to the wind (ppl were losing roof shingles, yard furniture, trees & limbs were falling) and she was w/out her TV. Josie could've cared less until she had to pee in the dark w/ a little tealight candle beside her. (Note to self* buy some "real" candles!) Liv was all good, she takes a wonderful nap to recharge her batteries. Casey & Aaron did have to go down to Shawna's house to cook our lunch of hotdogs, sausages, etc. & to check on her animals. Me, I flipped each lightswitch in the house about 5x, forgetting the power was still off. I can't help that it is a ritual!

So we have our warm lunch, play our boardgames, do a little housecleaning, it was peaceful. Our class at church was cancelled b/c they didn't have any power either, so I fit in about 1/2 hour of reading the Bible w/ the kids before dark. Then it got really interesting. Tealights were all I had, & now I know they produce very very little light. =) Kids don't like having to go to bed out of boredom, but even we were going to retreat to our room. We say our prayers & as I am tucking the older 2 in down in the living room, Casey says "Hey! It's back on!" (LOL, he had just put all of our important food in a cooler w/ ice!) I bow my head & say "Thank you God, for turning our power back on."

Hannah's response..no kidding..this is from my not-so outwardly religious child.."Thank you God! Glory, glory, glory!" I about lost it. It was hilarious, but at the same time, it truly showed how much we rely on technology. I turned a little tv on for the kids (they were so patient all day) & I went ahead to my room. This time, no TV, no distractions, pretending I was camping all over again. I would turn the house back on tomorrow.

Thank you God for taking away our power! Glory, glory, glory!
Thank you God for allowing us to have a sample of a hurricane, so that we may not forget about all those who have suffered & will in the future. God be with them!