More storms...

This picture doesn't come close to doing it justice - but we had our second big storm of the season yesterday. I took this picture after the tornado sirens had stopped and we felt it was safe to emerge from the kids bathroom (a.k.a. our tornado shelter) - so I missed capturing the really dramatic stuff on film. By this time, the 60 - 100 mph winds had stopped, the sky had lightened significantly and the rain had slowed from coming down in sideways sheets to just a torrential downpour. We lost power for a couple of hours and realized very quickly - as we sat in the pitch-dark bathroom with no way to know what was going on outside, that it's probably time to buy an emergency weather radio and a few other emergency supplies. The good news is that there was no major damage near us - just a few downed trees and fences. Keeps life exciting!

First swim

I decided it was officially hot today (my knees were sweating)...so the kids and I went and bought a little pool for them to cool off in. Here they are enjoying they're first official backyard swim of 2007.

Sweet Addison...

Addison the way we love her most...asleep!

The van...

So...we've finally joined the fraternal order of mini-van owners this week. The kids think they have a new playground and I'm loving being able to actually get my kids and all of their stuff into the car without having to be a contortionist! Actually the best part of having a van is that Drew and Addison don't have to sit by each other anymore and I'm naively expecting more peace and quiet time in the car as a result. We'll see...at least now they can't reach each other... that's got to help! Anyway, we ended up with a 2006 Toyota Sienna in a lovely blueish shade - which Addie is so skillfully modeling in the picture with nap hair, dirty face, and her shorts on backwards.