the day landree claire was born and tornadoes hit north texas

Let me preface this post by saying that it has nothing to do with traveling. It has nothing to do with any sort of upcoming trip of any type. It however is a major life event that I would like to document. So many people have been anticipating this day for quite some time. Landree isn't technically due for another 3 weeks but the doctors wanted her to be induced today. She has been a stinker from day one and we should have all guessed that some sort of major happening would be taking place today because it is Miss Landree's birthday. Today started like any other day. I always check the weather to see if we will get to have outside recess or not. That's a big deal for an elementary teacher (and the students). Believe me...it's tough having a long day without any time to run around and play...I"m talking about the kids, not me. So anyways, I saw that there was some storms in the forecast but I figured they weren't going to be a big deal. I anticipated that they would hit after dismissal or sometime right before afternoon recess. Sure enough I was partially right. Well, those storms started right before recess. We were lining up for recess and I looked out the end hallway door and knew we would be having inside recess. My students said, "I thought we were going outside." They didn't know it was raining because there was no thunder and the blinds were down and have been all day. So they just know the routine is to go watch 15 minutes of some sort of "movie" when we have inside recess. Well I also happened to get a text from a dear friend telling me to make sure that I let her know if I'm ok when all the mess passes. I had also checked Facebook to get an update on Landree to see if she had entered the world. Sure enough I see NBC updating saying that there were confirmed tornados on the ground. I start to freak out a bit but then quickly compose myself because it has to be nothing that will affect me. Well parents started checking their kids out early. I had about 6 leave early so I just brought my kids back to my classroom because the tornado sirens were starting to go off. That's when the announcement was made that we all needed to have our students get to an interior wall in the classroom. We did just that and the kids started questioning "why" just like 5 and 6 year olds do. They were so good. I do have to brag on them. Yes they asked questions like "why are we here?" and "why can't we leave?" Some of them were afraid that no one was going to pick them up. I assured them that someone would pick them up. The art teacher came in our room to and was with us so I had another adult. We were on tornado lockdown for about 45 minutes before they let kids leave. In the meantime, there were parents filling the library and teachers lounge. They did allow parents to come be with their child if they felt it necessary. Thankfully we just had 2 parents join us. All in all I would say that it went as well as it could have gone for a "tornado drill" or what they thought was another drill. They were very very ancy but what can you expect when you request children to be still and silent for 45 minutes. I got word when I got home that Landree had entered the world and she is just as beautiful as we all knew she would be. She is lucky to have such a wonderful family that will love and cherish her with their everything. I can't wait to see what big sister AB says. Of all the days to be born, we should have guessed that it would be the day that multiple tornadoes touched down throughout North Texas. Let's just hope she is far from the tornadoes that took place this afternoon and she is the calm after the storm. I can't wait to take some newborn pictures of that sweet girl!

Here is a picture taken 10 miles from Forney where I few of my friends live and teach.  Scary!!!  I would have completely lost it if I saw this....I don't do storms and I certainly don't do tornadoes!