An Unanticipated Slumber Party

Last night at 1:00AM we were awakened to the sound of the tornado siren going off right behind our house. Mike and I went downstairs to check the TV and saw a radar screen unlike any we could remember ever seeing before. The thunder and lightning was intense and we could hear wind whipping through the trees outside. A funnel cloud had been spotted and was heading for GR. We went upstairs and woke the kids up and took them to the basement. Waking them up proved to be quite an adventure. Annika was so sound asleep that I couldn't get her to open her eyes. Even once she sat up in bed she just kept starring at me blankly as I told her she needed to grab her pillow and head for the basement. Abby woke up scared and crying. We had to drag her into the basement at which time she told us she had to go to the bathroom and that it was an emergency. She was terrified to be left alone in the bathroom and Mike and I were trying to hurry to get Jake and Zach downstairs. So, as Abby cried in the bathroom Mike threw sleeping bags down the basement and I got Zach. Mike then went up for Jake who was actually quite excited about the tomato and kept asking to see it. Once we were all in the basement Mike tried to get reception on our TV downstairs with no success. We did get a radio signal to come in. All three kids ended up wide awake and quite hyper as they discussed what a tornado was and what would happen if one actually came into our neighborhood. The girls also had great fun listening to Jake continue to say tomato rather than tornado and they thought it was hilarious that he didn't seem to be able to tell that he was saying it wrong. After 45 minutes the warning was over. We knew the kids wouldn't want to sleep alone in their rooms as there was still plenty of thunder and lightening so Mike set up camp in the family room with the kids while Zach and I returned upstairs to go to bed. When I got up to feed Zach a couple hours later I checked on everyone to see how they were doing. The picture above shows 4 very sleepy people who didn't even stir as I took several flash photographs! The girls think we should sleep like this again tonight. Mike and I are personally looking forward to sleeping in our own bed, hopefully, the whole night through!

Marta, 1997 - 2010

During the summer of 1997, while I was away at Purdue, Lisa brought home a kitten from a broken feline family. Our landlord said she couldn't stay, but we kept her anyway and had some fun hiding her from him. We named her Marta after the tour guide that had shown us around during most of our Eastern European Calvin Band trip in 1996. We got Marta before our first anniversary, and she almost made it to our 14th. Other pets came and went, but she had always been around.

Just recently we noticed that she wasn't around the kitchen as much and spent most of her time in the basement laying on a pillow. After bringing her upstairs and witnessing her total disinterest in food and water we brought her to the vet where they kept her overnight. The next morning she passed away while the vet was examining her. The girls were upset, but managed to cope - Annika typed up Marta's life story (800+ words long) and even got to read it to her class the next day. Abby made a nice picture that is hanging on the fridge. We're not sure that Jake has noticed.

So, life goes busily on, and now Layla can eat out of the food dish with Tate, but no one comes running when you open the freezer in the evening, expecting a dish of ice cream.

Now That's a Little Baby!

A couple days ago Abby came running into the house yelling and laughing because she had just seen a deer chasing a cat across our street. Mike and I were surprised and curious as to why a deer would chase a cat. She then mentioned that there was a baby following the momma deer across the street. The kids ran back outside and Mike and I laughed about it and then resumed cleaning up the kitchen.

A bit later we realized we hadn't seen the 3 kids for a bit so Mike wandered outside to look for them. He eventually found them way down the street chasing after the deer. Mike's parents (who were coming to visit) stopped by the kids to see what all the fuss was about. Mike's mom took the following picture:

I guess now we know why the deer was chasing the cat. That is the smallest fawn I have ever seen!

Annika's Piano Recital

Annika had her piano recital on Wednesday night. She played two pieces -- the first one, By the Seashore, she had music for. The second piece, The Clown she played for memory. You can tell she's nervous because she plays a bit fast a makes a couple mistakes but we were still VERY proud of her and how hard she's worked at piano this year!