God Bless Us...Every One

On the way home from Zachary's swim lessons last night, I stopped at QT for gas. I rolled down his window so that we could chat while I pumped. My phone rings and it is Chad telling me to get home now! Apparently the weather is really bad. I look around and sure it is cloudy but no rain and no bad wind. Granted there is an occasional clap of thunder but nothing that I imagine to be too dangerous. But I promise as soon as I am done filling up, we will head home.

So I turn to Z and starting asking about swim lessons and the Plano city tornado sirens go off and we must have been right next to one. Needless to say, my poor son is trying to remain calm but is freaking out on the inside. Hands over his ears saying over and over Mommy there is a siren! Mommy there is siren!

I get in the car and tell him not to worry that we will head home to be with Daddy and Rylee and the siren is only going off to tell us to get home because a storm is coming. He asks if the siren is from a police car (there was one in the QT parking lot) and I tell him that no it is a siren on top of a pole so that everyone can hear it.

He then says -- "Actually it is Chicken Lickin." Hmmmm.....WHAT?

"It is Chicken Lickin." He is very serious.

I still don't get it. I ask who/what is Chicken Lickin? He says the white chicken. So friends, the confusion you are feeling now - I was feeling then. DO WHAT???

He says the little white chicken with the movie. From some recess of my mind I pull out "Do you mean Chicken Little? The sky is falling Chicken Little?"

He said -- "OOOOHH YES! Chicken Little." So we have made some progress. Chicken Lickin is actually Chicken Little. Now to figure out what this has to do with a tornado siren.

Zachary explains that the noise we are hearing is the siren on top of Chicken Little's car. He is driving around blaring the siren to let people know the storm is coming.

I don't remember the movie but perhaps there is a scene with Chicken Little driving around warning people the sky is falling??? Doesn't really matter - point is the Chicken Lickin situation has been explained.

We get home and the weather has definitely gotten worse. My friend Kat calls and says there is a tornado in Hebron and wanted to make sure I knew. Hebron is getting close to Frisco so we hang up to head for a safe place and the power goes out. My son is on the edge again. He wants Chad and I to turn the lights on.

Ugh. No can do buddy. I hate that he is so worked up but trying so hard to stay calm. When did he grow up?

So Chad, Rylee, Z, and I are sitting in the laundry room with our battery operated lantern listening to the horrid wind shake our garage door. I am trying to distract the family and suggest we say a quick prayer to feel better.

We bow our heads and pray for God's protection for our family, Auntie C, Kendall, and Uncle Todd and for the protection of our friends, family, and loved ones and everyone impacted by the storm. We ask protection for our house too but more to keep us all safe. We say amen and then Zachary says -- God please keep Chicken Little safe too.

Chad has no clue and looks at me -- I give him the "later" look and we ride out the storm.

As I am tucking in Zachary for the night, we say our bedtime prayers. We say our "Now I lay me down" prayer and then I throw in something like: Thank you God for keeping us safe and protecting all of us and getting us through the storm. We are grateful for your blessings.

To which Zachary says "and thank you for Chicken Little and his siren. AMEN."

Thank you dear God indeed. AMEN.

The Sock Thief

Here is just a random tidbit:
We drift from room to room while doing housework. Rylee does her best to keep up, crawling and playing as she goes. Along the way, she has learned that many things can become a play toy.
Lately, she is been getting a little more daring. She really covets her brother's stuff.
Precisely- his footware.
Rylee will take Zachary's socks and use them as a chew toy.
During the latest heist, she grabbed a [clean] sock and bolted out of the room ("bolting" being a hyper-fast diaper-ripping crawl). She went into Zachary's room with the loot and tried to shut the door. Seeing that the law was on her, she immediately shoved it in her mouth to get a few good chews on the sock in before confiscation.
-CMM