Hanging out in the cellar with nothing better to do… {the post}

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Last night was an interesting one here at the Norton household.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know what I am talking about. {Speaking of, thanks again for all of the prayers and thoughts y’all sent my way! They are all very much appreciated!}

Shane had just gotten the girls in the bathtub, when his mom called to tell him that a tornado was spotted north of us.

{Insert panicky music here.}

Then the tornado siren goes off, making our entire neighborhood town think that we’re all going to get blown away.

Y’all, my husband can move fast. Unfortunately, I only see this speed when we have a tornado warning.

Now, for the record, I don’t panic, but I get easily frustrated in tense situations, mainly because no one listens to me.

So, here we are… three dripping wet kids, one panicking (Abby Grace), one not listening (Reese), and one screaming for her shoes (yes… Meleah). Shane is gathering up clothing, I’m rounding up diapers and lovies and jackets (cause, you know… they might need of of those in a tornado) and my camera.

And, oh yeah, my iPhone. Because it’s my other child. (One of my other children, anyway).

Seriously, I’m sure some would have paid to watch (okay, maybe not paid) our little crazy family trotting across the street to get to the neighbor’s cellar.

Abby Grace practically dives into the cellar, and places herself as far away from the door as she can get. {Way to show us all what self-preservation means, honey.}

Reese, on the other hand? Not so keen on hanging out in a state-of-the-art, above-ground hidey-hole without any food {because I didn’t grab any snacks on my way out.}

Meleah? Ha! Don’t even think about that child being still long enough to be dragged into a cellar. She wondered around our neighbor’s backyard while her Daddy and our cousin stood outside looking around.

Remember, we are in Oklahoma. We may run for cover, but we will definitely hang out of said cover to see the action.

Did I mention that halfway through our siege of the cellar, I ran back across the street to get snacks? Yep. The girls were seriously hungry, so I grabbed bananas, cheese, Goldfish crackers, and Cheerios. And a bottle for the baby. That at least got the two littles to sit down for a minute.

The gist of the story? We got to spend time with our neighbors (who are actually family), and it was nice to chat. It never even rained. Not a drop. So, we at least were able to keep the cellar doors open to have plenty of air.

Shane and our cousin did watch a storm move over us, and form a few miles to our east, where a tornado did come down. There was also a tornado reported three miles north of our area, so going to the cellar was a wise decision. {None of us saw the tornadoes, because the trees were in the way, and we were in a more low-lying area.}

And while our evening ended with no storm or damage, many in other areas of Oklahoma were not so lucky. Please remember the residents of the OKC/Moore/Norman areas in your prayers, as they were hit very hard last night.

Comments

  1. Ellen says

    Amy – Your post reminds me of when we lived in Oklahoma (Broken Arrow & Bartlesville) and our kids were young. It always seemed a big storm would roll through Sunday evenings 10 minutes before dinner. I’d shut off the oven, grab the kids, dog, and mattress and head for the tub. My husband and youngest daughter would also scour the skies for a siting. When we built our last house in B’ville, we “re-inforced” a closet for added protection. After seeing Moore’s devastation in 1999 I realized how silly that was but no one wanted to build a basement! I’m glad you and your family is safe & sound!

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