The Land of Oz

I live in Kansas; in the heartland of America, also known as "Tornado Alley." Crazy weather is nothing new. You've probably all seen the Wizard of Oz. But last night was definitely something I have never seen... tornadoes in February! The following video was shot by storm chasers, just south of my hometown last night... in FEBRUARY!

The clouds started looking bad as we were finishing up dinner. I turned on the radio, just in case. Tate and I were dancing silly around the kitchen, while Mayer finished eating. Then we moved to the living room to watch the rain out the side door and waiting for Michael to come back from running to get milk. There was quite a bit of lightning, so I decided we would skip the bath. I had started gathering up diapers and jammies, when I heard the station manager, also a weather spotter/ storm chaser, on the radio. That signaled something more severe.

Tate started getting anxious. He's been to the basement during tornado warnings before, but he doesn't really remember. They started talking about tornadoes on the radio and running through the tornado precautions... go to the lowest level of your house... the car is not the place to ride out the storm... cover yourself with a mattress or heavy blanket... and so on. He was really taking note on what they were saying. I started making light of the situation, while preparing to go down to the basement. I was reassuring him the whole time I was gathering stuff up. 

Then the sirens went off and he was beside himself with fear. Poor thing gets so anxious! You can see the terror on his face.

Day 59: Keeper of the light

We didn't have a flashlight, so Michael gave him a headlamp. That really didn't help with his anxiety level. As soon as we got settled in the basement, Tate had to go to the bathroom. He was so nervous to go upstairs, but a majority of the storm had already passed. It moved through so quick. We got the all-clear after what would normally be bedtime. 

Getting both boys to sleep was pretty challenging. Mayer wouldn't settle down. He was bouncing off the walls... or rather the sides of his crib. This is how he crashed:

 After Tate was in bed he didn't bring up the storm again, but you could tell it was on his mind. His eyes would go shut for a few seconds and then he would open them wide. I usually snuggle with him for a minute or two after we turn out the lights. Last night, I had to lay with him for a lot longer. I convinced him to let me move to the hall. He was so restless and kept sitting straight up to make sure I was still there. If we are already having tornadoes in February, it is going to be a LONG spring and summer! But then again, we live in Kansas and we've been known to have blizzards in late March.

25" drift in front of my parents' house March 28, 2009.