A Little Storm

Around 2 this morning, I was awoken by Ellie's cries and the raging storm.  I ran to grab Ellie and could hear the wind and weather pounding on her back windows and then switching to assault her side window.  Immediately, my brain summoned flashbacks of Hurricane Eva when my family lived on base in Hawaii - our bedroom window smashed in and after a loud crash, the shed in the backyard was no more.  I very calmly, called the terrified dogs, who were barking their fool heads off,  and had them follow Ellie and me into the basement.  Jeff opted to stay upstairs, Uncle Steve stayed in his room... I thought he might have slept through it, but he said he was awake; watching and listening.  The wind was crazy (we later heard it went up to 100 mph), lightning sparked on every side of the house, rapid fire - not even waiting for thunder to sound.  The whole house quaked on its foundation.  I sat; singing lullabies and rocking Ellie on the basement steps, holding a rechargeable, electric candle.  To get away from the noise, Alex bolted through the dog door (I totally forgot about it) and Katy scampered back upstairs to hide on Jeff's side of the bed.  The storm calmed and Ellie and I made our way back to bed, as well.  She stayed in bed with us.  I set her on the bed between Jeff and me, but she crawled up on my chest, snuggled into my neck and fell asleep.  Forgot to mention... electricity went out as soon as the storm started.  We are on well water, so the water pump was out, as well.  Didn't come back on until 4pm.

This morning, we were all a little slow in getting up.  Ellie and I noticed a tree split in two; half still standing and half twisted away and strewn upon the ground.  In our pajamas, we wandered out into the yard and checked for damage.  Another tree was down in the pasture, torn up from the roots, but otherwise, we were very lucky... and safe.  Alex had come back inside during the early hours, soaked to the bone and wanting to snuggle on the bed with us...

We breakfasted at Cracker Barrel and then Uncle Steve headed home.  Jeff settled in for a nap and I brought Ellie to the neighbors to babysit for the day.  I had to go (un-showered) into DC for a doctor's appointment and to work at my new part-time job for a couple of hours.  It was a long day and I didn't get home until 6:45.  Ellie did really well, but was glad to see me and unhappy to be headed right to bed... all those emotions at the same time plus the fact that my doctor said it was weaning time, made for a cranky baby!  Jeff and I crashed early, too.  Of course, I made that leftover pizza, first!

Recreation of a picture of the brothers when they were little.  I will try to locate the original and post it, as well.