Tornadoes, Easter & Doctors...Oh My!

Well, I've gotten a little behind, so I'll try to briefly update on the past two weeks. Last Tuesday was packed with excitement for us. Personally, I've decided I can live without ANY excitement in my life...but it's not to be. We knew that storms were supposed to be heading our way, so we were keeping an eye on the radar at my office. It was looking like it was going to hit us about the time the kids got out of school. About 2:30, it was getting very dark, so I decided to go ahead and pick Isaac up from the day care that's only about 3 blocks away. As I was running out with him, the rain began. We went back to the office, where Rebekah got dropped off at 3:00. By then, the rain had stopped, so as soon as I got her, I flew the mile down the road to pick up the twins. Still not raining! I headed to the middle school to get the 3 big kids. About 3:25, it's still not doing anything, but getting darker. I was texting Rob and he told me they were holding their buses. Great, I thought. So I asked him if I should go home or stay in town. He told me to stay in town. We live about 20 miles outside of town and it looked worse at our house than in town. By now I knew we were under a tornado warning and I just began to pray that the weather would hold off 10 more minutes and the middle school would let the kids out. I considered going in and getting the kids, since I saw some parents doing that, but hated to leave the 4 little kids in the suburban. I was in a quandry and beginning to feel just a tad bit anxious. At 3:30, it began to rain (of course) AND the sirens began to wail all over town! OH MY WORD!! Full-blown panic was trying to set in! I did not have all my chicks under the protection of my wings and I was not dealing well with it. SO, I decided I was going to get the other chicks! I got Rebekah, Isaac, Gideon and Josiah and we headed across the field in front of the school to go get the others. Once we got inside, we heard that they were not letting any of the kids go....they were under lockdown, also. There were kids and parents lining every hallway. We hung out 5 or 10 minutes when the school said the threat was over and we could get our kids. So I had them call all 3 kids to the front. Aaron made it, but the other 2 did not. The sirens started again and they made the kids go back into the hallways. Now what do I do? I was letting the fear overwhelm me and keep me from thinking clearly. All I wanted to do was get ALL my kids and go home! Once I realized they weren't going to let the other 2 go, I sent Aaron to the suburban with 3 of the little ones. I soon followed with the other because I was more concerned about them in the car then the ones in the school. We sat in the car about 15 more minutes when I decided it was enough. I was going to get my kids! They told me I could go get my kids, I just had to find them. I knew about where they were...the hall that was the farthest away! So I was finally able to gather them up and get everyone together. Thank you Lord! That was 4:30 and they let the kids go at that time. We made it home in between storms, but a bad one was headed towards our house. So I put everyone in the laundry room and we hung out there while a fierce storm passed over us complete with hail hitting the windows. Thankfully, that was the worst of it. Rob was still not home at this point. They had put the kids on the buses to bring them home and the sheriff called and told them to get them back in the building. He finally got home at 6:45!! Man, what a day! God protected us and kept us calm, even through my anxiety and fear. The babies slept through it all:-)
Easter weekend was great. The kids showed their steers in Mineola and did very well. Sunday morning we actually got everyone dressed up, took a picture and made it to church on time. WOW!
Update on the boys' eyes: We went back to Paris to see the eye doctor. UGH! Our appointment was 12:15 and we saw the doctor at 2:15 and, yes, the waiting room was standing room only again! Josiah's eyes look good. Gideon's was not so good. The doctor is seeing signs of the eye disease coming back and he may have to have the shots in his eyes again. We go back in 2 weeks for him to check again and decide what to do. I respectfully requested to be sent to the Dallas office and not to come back to Paris:-) I may regret it, but 2 hours in a full waiting room with 2 hungry babies is not my idea of a good time!
The boys are doing really well. They slept last night from 11:00 until 5:00. Sweet! Ok gotta go clean up the 3 year old and feed the babies. A mother's work......