Hurricanes and Honeybees

Please excuse the fact that this post was written several weeks ago. It just took me that long to add the photos so if it seems a little out of sequence, that is why. I just got around to adding them tonight and thought what they heck? I'll post it anyway. Note this post is picture heavy of the kiddos. This one's for you mom!

It is no secret that hurricane Irene made her presence known over the weekend. And as a rookie to this new phenomena (since we obviously don't have them back in the midwest) I would be lying if I told you I wasn't scared out of my mind worried about it. Now I might have to remind you that not even a week earlier, I had experienced my first earthquake. So I will admit it, I was stressed out. I worried that our power would go out and our basement would flood. I worried that a tree was going to go flying through our house. I worried that our windows wouldn't be able to stand the hurricane force winds and that they would blow out. I worried that my girls would be so scared that they would forever be afraid of storms.  Worry...Worry....Worry. There was enough of it to go around.

So we prepared and did everything that they said we should do and we hunkered down for the weekend waiting for Irene to arrive. And when she finally did, we were ready. Or as ready as we could be. And you know what? We didn't lose power and my basement didn't flood. Although the wind was strong, my house was spared from any flying trees and my windows stood their ground. And best of all, my babies slept through it all.

So in the end, all of that worrying was for nothing. But I am not going to sugar coat it. It was awful. That is not something I ever want to experience again. I truly believe that all of the media hype about it was worth it. It saved lives. People were prepared. End of story.

So once Irene passed, life quickly returned to normal. Monday morning arrived and it was Addy's first day of school. (So how's that for a transition? Yeah, my high school English teach would be proud!)

As a 1st grader she is in the big time now! With homework and everything! She was so excited to go back to school and see all of her friends. So excited in fact that she hopped right out of bed Monday morning all bright eyed and bushy tailed.

See what I mean?

I think this one is my favorite. Why? Because if you look closely you can see her sister in peaking in the window wondering what's going on. But don't worry it was her turn on Tuesday. That's right, the very next day was Reese's first day of preschool. Seriously how can you resist the cuteness? Admit it, you can't.

So here is to another successful school year, hurricane free.

Remember

My heart aches today... I don't think I need to tell you why. The events that took place on this day 10 years ago will forever be etched in my mind. I try to teach my children about what happened on that day only to come up with no words. I keep telling myself they are young, they don't understand. After all, I was still in college when this had happened. They were not even born yet.

A year ago today we took our girls to the Garden of Reflection in Bucks County PA. Just when I think my girls are too young to understand, they surprise me. I am forever blessed by their innocence and love. We brought them to see this memorial in an effort to teach them something about this great nation. What I discovered was that they in fact, were teaching me so much more.

My prayer on this day is that we all take the time to remember, not just the horrific events of that day, but of the courage and love that arose from the ashes.