Stormy Hodgepodge

It's time again for Hodgepodge! I have been so busy with school starting back up, that there hasn't been a lot of time to blog.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend! You will see on #8 how we spent ours....


1. What is one piece of advice you would give a 'just turning' 21- year old adult?

You do NOT need to go out and get drunk in order to have a good time on your 21st birthday!

2. Besides cooler weather (or warmer weather, depending on your hemisphere) what is one thing you are looking forward to this fall?

We are going to be taking the girls to Chicago for the first time in November. Hubs and I have been there, but it was before we had kids, so this time will be much different.

My mother-in-law is going to fly down here from Maine, and she is going to go with us. We plan on going to the American Girl store, and a variety of different museums. Anyone have any suggestions of fun things to do while we are there? I have also heard that Shedd Aquarium is a fun place to go to.

3. What sound lulls you to sleep?

The sound of silence! I don't like to hear anything while I am trying to sleep. I am a very complicated sleeper. Things have to be "just right". The right temperature, the right amount of pillows, the right pillow cases/sheets/blankets and NO noise. Also, not a lot of light, but not completely dark either. And...all doors must be closed (closet, bathroom, bedroom door, but that must remain cracked open a little so I can hear the girls if they need me). Yeah...I'm weird. Hubs is a saint to put up with me.

4. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency 'kit' and/or disaster plan in place?

Not really. We probably should, but living where we do, I guess we just don't think about it very much.

5. How has your blog changed since you started blogging? Or has it?

I have only been blogging for a couple of months, so I don't think it has changed all that much. I do have more followers though, which is great!

6. What's something you've recently learned to do on the computer?

Blog :) Oh, and how to sell things on eBay.

7. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.

Yes, they can. I can either tell you something, in detail, or, I can show you a picture, and no words are necessary. I have a hard time not adding a least a few words though!

8. Insert your own random here.

This weekend, our town was struck by a really bad storm. We actually went down to the basement, because I swore we were experiencing a tornado. Trees were bending and cracking, our glass patio table was traveling across the deck, and things were flying around outside. Our grill cover flew up into a tree. Our trampoline sailed up into the air and ended up wrapped around a tree in the woods. Sad. We just got it at the beginning of summer, and the girls really enjoyed it.

It is currently not very "jump-able". Sigh.


Our power was knocked out, so we spent the night at my sister's house. It was just the girls and I, as Hubs was sick and stayed home. He said he felt like an "Amish bachelor" with no electricity, and no girls around. Ha!

Saddest of all was that a tree fell on our neighbor's house. It caused some major damage, that is going to take awhile to fix. Thankfully, they were not at home when it happened.

We had several trees fall down in our yard, so there was a lot of clean-up that had to be done. Everyone pitched in to help out. We spent Labor Day actually "laboring"!








Hubs decided to teach the oldest how to properly use a chainsaw. Yikes! This Mama was just a teeny bit paranoid we were going to have to visit the ER. She did great though, and "Papa Bear" was standing close by to supervise.

You can see the youngest in the background, picking up some of the many sticks that were wildly blown all around the yard.

It was neat to see the neighborhood come together and help each other out. Hubs was up on the roof of our neighbor's house, helping him tarp the gaping hole in their house, and the next day, the neighbor was over helping us remove the trees that had fallen in our yard. Neighbors helping neighbors. That's what it's all about....