Thanks Sandy for some Great Pictures!

So, we just went through our first hurricane here in Delaware!  I must confess to some apprehension as the stormy days rolled along and the center drew closer and closer to this tiny state.

Nate had to go overseas on Saturday before the storm hit which left me home with the five kiddos and a growing belly to see how the predictions turned out. I think the worst part was wondering whether the storm would be as bad as predicted, nothing at all, or worse.  There was no way to tell and honestly I didn't expect it to be what it was as I was assuming everyone was just being overly cautions and surely we would hardly be able to tell a storm was rolling over.

Well, I was wrong and it was quite a bit stormier than usual.  Thankfully my eldest was a big help and used his feet (which have grown bigger than mine!) to fill some of Daddy's shoes as he was away.  He was so eager to help and surprised me with how well he could handle things like moving the generator to the porch, preparing the sump pump to  run off the generator in case of flooding and power loss, starting the generator for a test run, helping me haul an extra coop to the garage in case the one the chickens were in toppled over and even donning grubby shorts and army crawling under the muddy porch to retrieve the two chickens who were too scared to come out and run to the coop on their own.

Anyhow, the wind blew, the trees swayed a bit too much for this mommy's comfort, some branches (thankfully small ones) came down, and our lawn and garden is sufficiently watered for some time to come.  It all passed and as it did it successfully painted the ground the color the trees used to be.  Our whole acre and a half looks like it has donned a most beautiful carpet of yellow and orange!  It is so vibrant in the after rain air and hazy sunlight, I can't help but smile when I see it.

I have been flooded with calls to see how we held up and have had quite a fun time chatting with everyone!  One of my sisters, who I wish had been here as she would have taken a hurricane and turned it into a most splendid, memorable adventure, suggested taking advantage of the lovely aftermath of the storm and getting some pictures of the kids.  My usually non-sporatic self hustled to my little "store" of out-of-use clothes, pieced together matching shirts and out we went!  Of course lunch was heating (or almost scorching) on the stove, but who cares about that when you get inspired with a great idea... :-)

Here are the fun results of my sister's inspiration! Enjoy!