I should be dealing with the absolute mountain of laundry that’s taking over my couch. Some of it is leftover from the sick nights of last week, but some of it is new from the another evening of sickness LAST night. I had forgotten to post that both kids had been throwing up on Wednesday night, too, and Josiah had a few bout of diarrhea on Thursday and Friday. But by Friday evening, everyone appeared to be happy and healthy. So we’d packed up and headed to the races on Saturday am.

We’d been gone all weekend, having a fabulous time in Athens, Georgia for Brian’s bike race (that deserves its own post), and the kids had not been sick at all. Until Josiah blew out a diaper in the car on the way home. Then after we got home and all fell into an exhausted sleep, Analise got sick, and at the same time, Josiah woke up a mess from another blowout diaper. Poor boy had to have a bath at 4am. He was not pleased. I finally got everyone back to sleep just before Brian had to get up. No throwing up today, but both kids have diarrhea.

What is going on in our house? One sick night, one sick day, 2 healthy days, then they’re sick again. We’ve got to get healthy for good soon!

Timeline (more for my mental note than anything)
Apr. 5 (Sat) – Josiah sick all night
Apr. 6 (Sun) – Josiah sick all day, Analise sick in evening
Apr. 8 (Tues) – Brian sick
Apr. 9 (Wed) – Brian sick
Apr. 15 (Tues) Analise sick
Apr. 21 (Mon) – Analise sick at night
Apr. 22 (Tues) – J has one bad diaper
Apr. 23 (Wed) – Analise and Josiah sick at night
Apr. 24 (Thurs) – J has one bad diaper, Beverly sick
Apr. 25 (Fri) – J has one bad diaper
Apr. 26 (Sat) – J has one bad diaper
Apr. 27 (Sun) – J has 3 bad diapers, blowout during night, Analise sick at night
Apr 28 (Mon) – J has all bad diapers, Analise not feeling well, and diarrhea

Well, the title says it all.  That’s what Analise said to me last night after she threw up for the 2nd time.  Poor girl.  I’m not sure what the deal is with her stomach.  She was sick 3 times last night, and this is the third bout of throwing up she’s had in less than 2 weeks.  So my mountain of laundry has just exploded, after I’d just finally gotten everything put back in order after last week’s 2 nighttime episodes. 

But she seemed fine today.  Josiah went to play at "Gwema" Beverly’s this morning, so Analise and I snuggled on the couch, while she watched a movie and I read.  I do enjoy that 🙂  She ate pretty much anything today, which doesn’t actually say that much because she’s in a really picky stage.  We’ll see what tonight brings… her bed is covered with a towel, just in case. 

When I got home from the race on Sunday, Kristine was hosting an organizational meeting for our church life groups; Josiah was asleep; and Analise was in her room watching a Little Einstein’s episode on our laptop. She was sitting on the edge of her bed with the laptop on a table right next to the bed. When I came into the room, we had the following interaction [keep in mind that Analise talked in the sweetest voice during all of this]:

Analise: What are you doing in my room?
Me: I just got home from the bike race.
Analise: Were you in the front?
Me: Yes I was in the front some of the time.
Analise: Did you win?
Me: No, I didn’t win this time.
Analise: What was the name of the person who won?
Me: I think his name was David.
Analise: How long is his name?
Me: It has five letters … D-A-V-I-D
Analise: Oh.

Thank goodness she didn’t ask about the road race or the time trial. It would have been complicated explaining all the dynamics of the people involved in that race and especially trying to get how long everyone’s name was and how to spell them all!

Since Brian’s swamped with school, other work and cycling, I’m taking it upon myself to chronicle his cycling endeavors with a new category on our blog. Welcome to "As the Pedals Turn"!

You might or might not remember that in his last race 2 weeks ago, he crashed hard, taking out a teammate and 13 other people. We were hoping his bike could be relatively easily fixed. And it can be fixed… or rather, replaced.  Upon closer inspection, the bike shop found that the frame was cracked in 3 places, and it needs to be replaced.  That’s a $$$$ fix for his high-end bike, this snazzy yellow Trek Madone 5.5 Pro. *sigh*  They’re going to order the new frame which will hopefully be in soon, and let him pay it off with the store credit he earns for top places in races through the rest of the season.  Whew. That’s a big chunk of change that won’t land on our credit card, thankfully. For now, though, he’s racing on his old Trek, which we had hoped to sell, but now we’re VERY glad we hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Oh, and in case anyone is interested, it’s for sale. We’ll cut you a good deal, as long as you don’t ask how many miles are on it. 🙂 I think maybe it would be fun to put a little hanging "For Sale" sign on it while he’s riding… when was the last time you saw that?

So this weekend, he’s in Brookhaven, MS for the Mississippi Grand Prix. This was a race he did really well at last year. It’s a stage race, like the Tour de France, which means they’ll race 4 separate races (a criterium, a road race, a time trial, and a circuit race) and the times will be combined for a cumulative overall placing. Each race has prize $$$, but there’s also a hefty $$$$ for the overall General Classification (or GC). There’s also a very big prize ($5000) for the top team, using their best 5 riders’ placings.

Unfortunately for Brian, the criterium last night was canceled due to bad weather (I feel like he might have done really well in it… oh well, onto the next race!) Today’s road race was tough – 80 guys on a narrow, fast race course with all kinds of attacks.  Brian worked hard to try to be in several of the breaks, but he missed going with the break that finally stayed away to win.  He finished in the pack. This afternoon is the time trial, which is not his specialty.  Tomorrow, hopefully, though he can lay it all out and wrap up the weekend with a good placing (and maybe a prime or 2?) in the circuit race.

I’ll keep you updated!

Last night was 2 nights in a row that Analise was awake throwing up. Fun times. A couple weeks ago when J had the stomach bug, then Analise had it, I mentioned that we’d been spared the chore of nighttime sickies. No more. I’m well versed in consoling the child while Brian cleans up the mess, then he takes child to bed for snuggling (laying on a towel) and I remake child’s bed, covered with towels.

Doors are left open, and my mother’s ears are primed for calls or cries. If it’s Analise who’s sick and she’s not feeling too bad, she’ll jump out of her bed, run across the room, throw her door open (so it bangs against Josiah’s wall), run across the hall (not so far, but far enough that her 4 footsteps are VERY LOUD) before she throws open our door (so it bangs against the closet door, shockingly loud), then run to chosen side of the bed (usually Brian, bc I’m notoriously very grumpy in the middle of the night, which makes me feel very bad when I find she’s run in bc she’s about to puke). That’s pretty much how this morning happened around 3am.

We got her tucked back into bed, and Brian went back to sleep while I took care of the 2 other sick events. Really, I would like to even the responsibility out and get some sleep myself, but somehow, the mother in me says I need to be the one taking care.  He can do the cleanup, if necessary, and I bless him for that 🙂  But he had a bike race today (and tomorrow and Sunday), so I was letting him sleep. He did suggest gently in his 3/4 asleep state that maybe Analise and I should sleep in the living room after I’d bounced out of the bed heeding her calls 4 or 5 times.  But she finally fell back to sleep for good at about 5, before Brian needed to get up at 6:15 and Josiah heard him and realized it was morning, which makes him very excited. This sleepy mommy put my laptop on his dresser, put a Thomas the Train DVD on, and left him in his crib with a couple books and cars.  I managed an extra 30 minutes of sleep thanks to Thomas 🙂

So Brian’s in Mississippi for bike races all weekend, and everyone’s tucked into bed. I’m hoping it’s a good solid night of sleep, but we’ve got storms moving in, so I’m guessing Analise will be snuggling with me when the thunder starts.  And all my fingers and toes are crossed that neither J nor I get this stomach bug… I would NOT be a good mom on my own this weekend if I was sick!

No sweeter words to any mama’s heart…  Just today, Josiah’s said, "Ah wab ewww…"  (Um, that’s "I love you" :))  Brian said goodbye to him this morning and said, "I love you."  And Josiah said it.  And just now, I was holding him for a moment, and I said, "Can you give me a hug?"  He wrapped his arms around me and said, "Hug".  I said, "I love you," and he said, "Ah wab ewww…" 

Just a second ago, Analise was calling him from the other end of the house (her bedroom).   He went running down the hallway saying, "I comig!  I comig!"  It’s so great to have them playing together a bit more peacefully lately! 

Analise had a rough night last night, requiring 2 different bed/pj changes.  We didn’t sleep well, and though she’s feeling better today, we’ve had a very snuggly day together on the couch.  I’ve needed an excuse to curl up with my little ones.  I read and napped while they watched movies. 

*sigh*  My mom’s heart is so full today! 

"As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right." This poignant essay was shared at my Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) meeting yesterday. It really struck a chord in my heart, and I’m excited to have found it’s from a book called The Invisible Woman: A Story for Mothers.  Here’s the YouTube version, which is very, very good (about 5 minutes).

The Invisible Woman
by Nicole Johnson

It started to happen gradually …

One
day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we
were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him,
"Who is that with you, young fella?"

"Nobody," he shrugged.

Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, "Oh my goodness, nobody?"

I
would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something
to my family – like "Turn the TV down, please" – and nothing would
happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I
would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little
louder, "Would someone turn the TV down?" Nothing.

Just
the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We’d been there
for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was
talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a
break in the conversation, I whispered, "I’m ready to go when you are."
He just kept right on talking.

That’s when I started to put all the pieces together. I don’t think he can see me. I don’t think anyone can see me.

I’m invisible.

It
all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the
way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and
ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, "Can’t you see I’m
on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or
cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the
corner, because no one can see me at all.

I’m invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some
days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock
to ask, "What time is it?" I’m a satellite guide to answer, "What
number is the Disney Channel?" I’m a car to order, "Right around 5:30,
please."

I was certain that
these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied
history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had
disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She’s going … she’s going … she’s gone!

One
night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip,
and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was
sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.
It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down
at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was
clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid
I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty
pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package,
and said, "I brought you this."

It
was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why
she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with
admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In
the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after
which I could pattern my work:

• No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.
• These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
• They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
• The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A
legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why
are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will
be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it."

And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I
closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was
almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see
the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No
act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake
you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are
building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will
become."

At times, my
invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is
erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own
self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I
keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one
of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished,
to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of
the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built
in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to
that degree.

When I really
think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing
home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning
and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three
hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I’d
built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come
home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add,
"You’re gonna love it there."

As
mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will
marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been
added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

It turns out we did have a very close call with a tornado yesterday. When we were out and about today, we discovered that the damage to our neighborhood was a little more extensive than we had originally thought. When I got back today from taking Analise and Josiah to her friend Laurel’s birthday party while Kristine was at a baby shower for friends of ours from church, I looked up the weather and saw this weather update from the National Weather Service regarding yesterday’s storms:

The National Weather Service has surveyed damage in Jefferson
County in the city of Hoover. It has been concluded that the
damage on Friday, April 11 was caused by a tornado.

The tornado touched down at approximately 425 PM... in the colonial
grand apartment complex uprooting and snapping multiple trees. The
tornado traveled northeast causing damage in the Cedar Brook
apartment complex. Multiple trees were snapped and major roof damage
occurred when a brick fire wall used to separate units collapsed.
The path length of this brief tornado touchdown was approximately
2000 feet... one third of a mile... and was 25 yards wide at its
widest point. The tornado has been rated an EF-0 on the Enhanced
Fujita scale as damage was consistent with winds of 75 to 80 miles an
hour.

Here is a map showing the locations described in the NWS damage survey and the path of the tornado in relation to our house and my parent’s house. The red arrow shows approximate touchdown and liftoff (given a 2000 foot damage path). Note that it was heading straight for a major intersection of two interstates at the start of a Friday rush hour and then pretty much straight to our house! Imagine how bad this could have been if the tornado had been even a moderate sized one instead of a relatively small one. We sure were lucky.

First, here are pictures that I took yesterday an hour or two after the storm had blown over.

Our neighbors across the street had a tall pine tree snap in half.

Debris littered the street in front of our house.

These rocking chairs are HEAVY and yet this one got knocked over and slid slideways into one of porch support beams.

The parking brake on our double stroller was still locked. You have to push really hard to skid the stroller along the ground with the rubber wheels locked – and yet the winds blew the stroller across the porch into the other rocking chair where it collided with the other rocking chair and slide it too!

Here are some more pictures that I took today on my bike while riding around our neighborhood nearly 24 hours after the storm.

This tree narrowly missed a house down the street.

 
This fence was not so lucky.

Nor was this house.

Charter Cable was at the scene to fix this cable line today. Remarkably, we only lost power for a minute or two during the entire storm!

Our neighbor just up the street from us had to use a chainsaw to clear the road to get to his house. Also, in the left of this picture you can see the path through the woods that Analise and I take to walk her to her Mother’s Day Out program.

Another broken tree top.

Beautiful spring azalaes at our house. Ummm, note that some of them have fallen off onto the ground 🙂

Here is a video taken AFTER the winds had died down a bit and after I stopped looking out the window to make sure none of the trees in our backyward were going to fall on the house. You can see the hail bouncing on the ground.

Video of the rain, wind, and hail.

Here is an unrelated picture of a house that burned down in our neighborhood a couple weeks ago.

This was not weather-related. The owners were on vacation when it happened.

Finally, here are pictures and a video from last Friday’s storm (4/4/08). That’s two Fridays in a row with major storms. What will happen next Friday?

Squall line approaching our house on Friday, April 4, 2008. See the video below for commentary.

Video of the April 4 squall line approaching our house.

Crazy stormy weather blew through here this afternoon.

We
were watching the weather coverage on TV, as they were highlighting the
6 rotating storms throughout Alabama on radar while it got darker and very windy out the
back. (We were already in the basement since that’s where Brian and the kids had been working/playing.) The tornado sirens went off,
but the weather guy assured us it was for the northern part of the
county (we’re in the south). Then the downpour started, and then the hail.  The wind was wild and swirly, and we were sure a tree was going to
come down in the backyard as we watched out the windows.  It only lasted a few minutes, and then a couple minutes after it calmed down, the weather guy says, "We’re getting
reports of a funnel cloud on Rocky Ridge Road…"  No kidding – that’s where
we are!  Like 10 minutes too late! There are tons of people without
power – not us, luckily, and lots of damage reports in our area, though they haven’t actually confirmed any tornados.  But
our porch rockers were blown over, and the double stroller – with
brakes on! – was blown all the way across the porch!

These spring/summer storms in the South can be CRAZY! (And I’m not even
talking about the hurricanes!)  Meanwhile, both my sister are in Duluth, MN getting a
certified BLIZZARD and my mom lost power last night in the "thundersnow" and had school canceled today, all this on April 11th!

**I started this post yesterday on my birthday, but it’s been so busy around here, I’m just now posting it!!!** 32 years old!  And everyone woke up healthy – woohoo! That’s the first and best birthday present!  It was a fairly good night’s sleep for everyone, and Josiah was super sweet and snuggly with me in bed.  And Analise is on best birthday behavior for me, which makes me smile!

I had a couple e-cards waiting for me.  My dad sends us lots of e-cards, and the kids always want to watch them over and over and over.  So we spent the first part of the morning enjoying all the cards he’s ever sent us. 

I got lots of emails and notes on my Facebook page, and interestingly
enough, just one card in the actual mail!  What a techy society we are
becoming!  But of course, with the little birthday reminder on
Facebook, far more people remembered it was my birthday and dropped me
a note.  I got a beautiful bouquet of pink sweetheart roses and daisies
with a balloon from my parents.  Brian got me a handheld label printer
(yes, so very romantic… it was just what I wanted!!) and some
sunflowers.  And a mom friend surprised me by dropping by mid-morning
with some flowers, a bottle of wine, and some chocolate just because
she knew the kids had been sick, and she couldn’t imagine me cooped up
with sick kids on my birthday.  AW! Analise and I the Best Birthday Cupcakes,
and they were actually VERY good, possibly even the best. 

Since everyone looked like they were going to be sick, I had planned on staying in for a birthday dinner.  But Brian and I ended up getting our favorite (well, only) babysitter and enjoying dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  I tell ya, dinner out without kids is *heavenly*.  We really don’t go out much with the kids, except for Moe’s (fast fresh tex-mex), Roly-Poly (wraps), and Chik-Fil-A.  As unpredictable as the kids are, it’s not worth the money to go elsewhere because we never know how long we’re going to have to enjoy it, so it was a real treat to be on our own for a quiet, leisurely meal.  We had Chinese Potstickers (very very good, though still, not quite as good as Corrie’s!), Shrimp & Bacon Club (me, what I get nearly every time, it’s amazing) and Bang Bang Chicken (Brian, a peanutty-curry chicken & shrimp dish that he loves).  We shared a piece of Kahlua Coffee Cocoa Cheesecake, and of course, they wrote "Happy Birthday, Christine" on the plate and sang to me 🙂 

Honestly, I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately.  Mothering has worn me out over the last couple months…not from any particular thing, just the sum of the everyday events.  I feel like my needs have gotten lost in all the needs of my kids, Brian, the house, and other responsibilities.  That sure does sounds selfish, but I think most mothers would understand where I’m coming from. I love my kids, I love my husband, I love being MOM, but it can get wearying.  I’m not doing the greatest at taking care of myself and filling up my heart on a regular basis, so I’m sure that’s part of it. 

As I went to sleep on Sunday night after writing this post, I was just praying, "God, please don’t let anyone be sick on my birthday.  I really need a day that’s a little bit about me."  He’s such a good God…  He heard my aching heart, and poured out countless tangible blessings for my birthday.  So humbling.  He didn’t need to.  I’m sure there will be birthdays that will be overshadowed by needs, events, etc.  And yesterday could have been spent taking care of sick ones, or even being sick myself, and it wouldn’t have been the end of the world.  But in my very small corner of the world, the super sweet, flowery, sunshiney full-of-love day was so appreciated!  Thank you, Lord!!