Tornadoes & Prayers

Most of you know by now about the tornado that devastated Joplin, Missouri. This event literally hit home for us, as Joplin is just 30 miles from where we live in Pittsburg, and the home of my sister, Victoria, her husband, Max, and their new baby boy, Carter. It also happens to be the place where Nana, Pops, and Keyven were visiting that Sunday night. He was staying with them while I was away for the weekend (in, ironically, another place that suffered from weekend tornadoes… except I was camping).   Here is a little story from my mom that she shared on her Facebook page about what happened after they came out of hiding and tried to assess what had happened.

“As 3-month Baby Carter and 3-year-old grandson, Keyven and I sat cuddled up on the couch trying to understand what we had just experienced in Joplin. Keyven sat nearly trembling and literally pushing into me as close as he could. Victoria + Max had just gone outside to assess the damage when Keyven said,”Nana, I think we should pray.” Not quite knowing whether he totally understood what had just happened. I said, “Okay, do you want me to pray?” He said,”No I will”. He held my hand and put his other little hand on Carter’s head and began,”Thank Jesus for being safe, for Nana & Pops, for Victoria & Max, for the people outside, for the thunder to make flowers and for our house to be safe. Amen” I had to realize that love, life, and blessings comes in little miracles through the eyes of a three year old. I feel blessed tonight. Praying for the people outside tonight.”

I’m so glad that my family was kept safe through this terrifying event. They were just blocks from the main path of destruction that ripped through Joplin. Everyone is fine, and Keyven is talking very openly about what happened. He is a little more concerned than usual about the thunder. He says he is afraid that the rain will make the buildings fall down and catch things on fire. Having been through my fair share of traumatic events, I am doing my best to listen to him and comfort him when he talks about it. I’m thankful he was with Nana & Pops who guarded him and protected him with love and prayers.

I realize the readership of my blog is spread pretty far and wide, but here is a link to a local news station site – KOAM TV 7 – listing the most up-to-date needs for donations and how you can help. Right now, they desperately need monetary donations. If you are local and wanting to volunteer, please call the Joplin Tornado Recovery hotline at 2-1-1 (locally) or 1-800-427-4626. They can register you as a volunteer and let you know where you are needed most when the time is right. There are also many, many local fundraisers popping up in surrounding communities like Pittsburg where you can take donations. Also, if you know of any families affected by the tornado who will need furniture or household items, please have them get in touch with me. I am moving next week, and I have some things I can give away to help out.

Thanks for all the prayers that have been sent our way over the past couple of days. Please keep us in your thoughts, as we are bracing for another round of severe weather in the area this evening. Remember to tell your family today that you love them, and be thankful for all you are blessed with in your life.

I love this kid.

Some excerpts from this evening’s activities. Just too cute to not share.

Tonight we hung out with some other mommies & kiddos — Sara & Alli w/Mac (16 mos.) and Sarah w/Bella (4). Had dinner, went to the park, and then met up at Starbucks for coffee on the patio in the beautiful weather while the kiddos played around. It was really, really nice. I only wish I had started hanging out with these mamas sooner than a month before we’re moving!

At one point on the patio, Keyven started holding hands with Mac and walking around with him. Then they started hugging. The best part was when Mac looked up at Keyven and his little face just lit up in an ecstatic grin as he gave Keyven a huge hug.

Later, at home, Keyven and I were reading his bedtime book. These days, it has been back and forth between the book that Grandma wrote for him and our Finding Nemo “behind the scenes” book with chapters about every character. Tonight, it was Nemo.  In order to not have read this whole book every night, I taught Keyven about chapters and tell him we can read a certain number each night. He picks them out of the table of contents and then we search for the page number in the book pages. It has become quite a little routine for us. (I knew it was working when tonight he told Alli that something in his book was “on page 26!” — and he was right.)

One of the sections he picked was the coral reef. We found the page, and I pointed to the big illustration in the middle of it. “Who lives there?” I asked.

“Nemo and his daddy!” And, before I could ask another question, he added, “You know what their house is called? It’s an anemone!”

I must have been glowing with pride. I told him that two weeks ago when we first started reading this and I can’t believe he remembered — AND could pronounce it perfectly. I hope he learns to love reading as much as I do. It makes my heart so happy.

At Last

Done!

As of yesterday, I am officially a graduate of Pittsburg State University and the construction management program! I had a wonderful day of family, friends, and celebration. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it, and thanks to ALL the people who have helped me get to this day — whether I know you in real life or online, friends new and old, located near or far, your thoughts, love, and encouragement all contributed to getting me to this day.

Here’s a video of my actual walk, but the best part is towards the end, when Keyven tries to whistle like Nana and then hollers at me.

And, for those of you not on Facebook, here’s a link to pictures from the day.

Next up: moving back to D.C. in two weeks!

Look who’s back…

Yup, its the “blueberry” blog!  If you’ve been a long-time reader, you’re probably thinking one of two things:

1) Wait a minute. I thought she moved this to a new blog address a year ago that she never used.

2) Oh, right. She says she’s going to start blogging again. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Well, in either case you’d be correct. But in the case of #2, I hope to prove you (and the nagging voices in my head) wrong. Yes, I started a new blog to transition off of the “blueberry” blog.  I think part of the reason I wrote on it so infrequently is that my heart wasn’t really in it because I wasn’t very happy at the time.

Now that life has taken a different (read: happier) direction after a lot of ups and downs (and no doubt more to come), I’ve had some time to contemplate the state of my blogs. And I came to the conclusion that I wanted to scrap the “new” blog (for obvious, name-related reasons) and come back to the blueberry blog.  After all, I am still growing a blueberry. Just outside of me instead of inside of me. A beautiful, adorable little blueberry who provides me with endless material, anecdotes, and amazing moments to share with my friends and family.

So, we’re back. And better than ever, if I do say so myself. Love you all! Thanks a million for your continued support and encouragement.

Buddy Boys

So Much to Say…

I miss writing! I miss free time! I miss cataloging all the amazing and funny things that happen in the course of raising Keyven & living a life of sheer chaos. I think of so many things to write on here.  Since I (clearly) never find the time, I also imagine that some day there will be an app for my phone that will automatically detect blog-writing brainwaves, turn the thoughts in to coherent English, and post them.  Ah well.

Until that technological advance occurs, I decided that some little stories are better than a huge summer novel, especially when they are stories about the things that come out of Keyven’s mouth.  And, if you’ve read this blog at all, you know once I get started I end up with at least half a novel…

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During bath time, Keyven is standing up in the bath bathing/hair washing part.
Keyven farts loudly. VERY loudly. Multiple times. He looks behind him with a shocked/surprised look on his face. As if he has never farted in his life (ha!).
K: What was that?!
Me: You farted. What do you say?
K (still looking behind himself, down at the bubbles in the bath): Mommy, I think there’s a fart in there.

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At dinner.
K: Mommy, do you love me for all the day?
Me (melting): Yes, I do.  Do you know who else I love all the day?
K: Ummm… Daddy!
Me: Yup! Do you love Daddy for all the day, too?
K (matter of factly, with Tim standing right there): No. Not today. Maybe later.
Me (trying to keep a straight face at the look on Tim’s face): That’s not very nice. (To be fair to Tim, while I was gone on travel, K first said to him, “Daddy, I love you for all the day.” He just gets a little ornery when I get home after being away.)

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At bedtime (which has become a more frequently difficult process lately).
K: Daddy, you may NOT close my door! I’m the boss!
Me: Uh, no. You are not the boss. Daddy may do whatever he wants. He is the boss of you.
K (after a few seconds of processing this information): Well, I’M the boss of the toys at least.

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There are so many more. I just had to share a few of the recent ones. Ohhh… I love this kid to pieces. But he is going to be a handful. Not that I know where he gets that from.