Yesterday afternoon my weather radio went off alerting me of possible weather headed my way and at the very same time Hailey came running to me telling me that the TV said to turn it to channel 7.  I turned the television to see the weather reports and sure enough - bad weather that eventually turned into a tornado. So I began going down my mental checklist and we headed for the back bathroom complete with pillows, mattress, flashlights, cell phone and the radio. Finding out that the tornado passed by only a mile to two miles from here scared me but I must say I was relieved. I do not enjoy storms of any nature.

One of the things on my checklist was to check to see if the flashlights I keep out in various places throughout the house were still there and working and get out the emergency candles because it was going to be dark soon.  Hunter has a knack for removing the one in the living room and walking off with it!  Another item was to go get my emergency bags I keep for us out and placed by the door. You never know if you need to leave or not. Brady thinks I am nuts sometimes! I immediately took them out and thought okay it is FEBRUARY - not typically the time of year we have to think about tornado weather. That kind of weather usually starts in late March/April. So these bags have been sitting for awhile now. Hunter isn't a baby anymore and it was so odd to find a bottle, formula and even smaller clothes for him. My car has a set of current clothes for them but this bag was more comprehensive. Anyway needless to say, I need to change them out. My 72 hour food kit is out of date too. So I will be doing a re-stocking soon for those items. 

I absolutely love my weather radio though. It can run off batteries as well so when our power was out for 2 1/2 hours it came in handy. Brady came home shortly after the tornado passed through. We had a test run using our generator.  He hooked up our refrigerator, the television and a light. About 15 minutes later, the power came back on for good. Hailey and Brady had big plans to play Kung Fu Panda on the XBOX during the power outage! 

*Side note #1: Goldfish in the bathtub = Big Ole' Mess! We stayed in the back for awhile until I knew it was  save to venture back out. I took goldfish and drinks for them to pass the time. They were everywhere in the tub after I removed the blankets! I also think it is a good idea to pack an activity bag for the home and the car with items they haven't seen. I grabbed a few things from Hailey's room that kept them busy. 

*Side note #2: The wild animals had some good eats today from the food that came out of my out of date 72 hour kit. I am sure the night animals will enjoy the leftovers too! We also found out that we need to refill our 3 large gas cans with more fuel so that generator will be ready to run for a long time if needed. That is somthing we don't think about doing until mowing season! I also wish I had an endless supply of batteries of all sizes. No matter how many I buy, we seem to go through them like candy. I would say butter but candy goes faster here!

*Side note#3: If you had to leave your home quickly and knew you could not return, what would you grab? How handy are those items you want to take and how long would it take you to grab them along with your children and still think straight? I have often thought about these questions. Most of the stuff in my home is just plain sentimental and material stuff. I would however like to take a few items. I would like the DVD's of saved documents/pictures, important documents, my journals I haven't finished importing onto the computer, possibly my laptop and camera, jewlry and whatever else I could load up in the time I was given that is sentimental to my children, Brady and I.