Footage of Tornado filmed 3 blocks from our house, right before it hit us

Tornado Clean Up Information

For all who are interested or planning to come out and help, THANK YOU. Matt will be there onsite. We finally got called by a volunteer crew with trucks that are coming by tomorrow afternoon to help haul the trees out. If you are planning to come, and can come tomorrow AM and early afternoon, the more we can get cut before they come the more they can take. We will also need as much help on Sunday as possible to clean up after them, and continue clearing. We have heard that insurance will not cover any of the tree/yard damage and we are looking and thousands of dollars worth of tree removal & landscaping to fill the huge root ball holes, regrade our yard, fix our driveway, etc. In fact, our home owner's insurance will only pay to remove the part of the tree on the house... unbelievable! Any help we can get that can help us reduce those out of pocket bills would be GREATLY appreciated.


Address and phone contact in comments.

And a big thank you to everyone who has reached out and plans to come. I'm sorry that I won't be there to meet you and thank you personally. The girls are having a really hard time and I don't think I can leave them, right now.

footage of the tornado & aftermath

video of damage

This video was shot by someone in our driveway, that's me you hear and it opens looking in our front yard then spans around to the street and the house across the street. This does not show our house which is a fair ways up behind me... but I think you get the gist of the destruction.

Tornado

We were hit by that tornado that tore through Dexter, MI yesterday. Hands down most frightening experience of my life. We are all safe. Our yard is filled with huge mature trees (why we bought the house, of course). Unfortunately the majority were shorn off or uprooted. What house damage we have is from a massive Maple being thrown against it. Only exterior house & yard damage, thankfully. Well.... And psychological. I mean, I literally felt it go over the house as I held the basement bathroom door shut. It was surreal, I thought ... "So this is what it's like, it's happening". But nothing could prepare me for what I saw outside it was apocalyptic.
Pictures to come... I don't know how to do this from my phone.

We are at my mother's until we can get power back & assess the safety of everything.

But I will say, thankfully, we bad a prepared tornado safe room & a practiced an with the kids. Including getting on their boots & bike helmets... Believe it.... Those save lives & prevent injuries from flying debris & ground debris after the storm. Thank God I had signed up for the emergency weather alerts on my phone. Because the tornado hit our house AFTER the sirens shut off. If not for the weather alert warning to stay down longer I might have let the kids up. I barely made it down in time, when I saw that the wind was blowing one way out of the west side of the house and the other way out of the east. Probably 15 seconds later it hit.

Not sure we'll be able to afford private school now...

I Should Say...

So much stuff, other than paleo, is going on around here, these days.

We've been applying to schools.

What?

Yes, you read that right.

This has been STRESSFUL, but also exciting.

Homeschooling has been great during this time, but it was never our forever life plan.

With Baby starting elementary school, it is a good time for us to find a great school for BOTH girls.

Kid is very excited (and nervous) about it, she always loved school, and she does miss having kids around her all day.

I think, I've done right by her these last couple of years and it's time to move on to a new challenge.

I know she's at a place academically where she can preform in a traditional school setting, and we're hopeful this can work and be a fulfilling experience, academically and socially.

We've been all over the board on this, and finding a good fit for both of the girls has been challenging.

But I think, as of this afternoon, we've (I've) made one.

Out of left field, though it may be, tomorrow we're submitting an application for a conservative religious school.

Believe it.

(some of you could probably see this coming a million miles away)

Sure, there is some stuff we would not choose (like daily devotional & weekly chapel) but what I KNOW is that every school has something you would not choose.

(Like her old hippie school where a mom swore to the kids that there were werewolves. Thanks.)

Having a superior playground is all that mattered to the girls.

Baby looked out at it while I was in the office finishing up our tour, and when we walked out she said...

"I am definitely going here!"

Also, the greatest Kindergarten room set up I have ever seen. Awesome. Awesome. Baby's mouth fell open.

It's amazing what a whole bunch of church funding can do for a school.

Awesome, fully stocked library & computer lab? Check.

Huge brand new gymnasium? Check.

Music room... like a REAL one with stands for the choir? Check.

Art room... foreign language (this has gone missing almost everywhere else)... small class size, only one class per grade... did I mention the playground?... holy crap it was nice... yearly musical.... the whole nine yards.

Gym EVERY day.

and UNIFORMS.

Did I ever tell you how much I love uniforms? Love 'em.

Oh, and it's the cheapest private school I have ever come across. Both kids can go for LESS than one at any other area school. Half of one. It's insane.

After looking at weird hodgepodge programs, and bizarro charter school wackiness... this place was like a gift from God.

hahahahaha.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting how the girls had really hated the other schools we saw (you could feel the disorganization) and then they walked in here and everything was structured and organized, and you could see what everything was and how it would be, and they were both totally into it. Which I suppose isn't too surprising, since that is how I felt as well.

Having gone to private schools, this school finally felt like a real school to me.

The downside is that I will have to drive 1/2 hour & back to pick up Baby from Kindergarten at 12 (oh yeah, half day!!!!!! the driving is worth it) and then a 1/2 hour there and back at 3. But if all goes well for Kid there, the next year they'll both be full time.

And I can get a job.

I've been kind of yearning for one, for quite some time.

I just try to keep it on the down low.

So this coming year, I can hopefully get my feet wet with some volunteer work at an agency I'd like to work with later.

Guilty Conscience

"I noticed you bought yourself a couple of bags of almonds." Kid says.

"Yeah." Mrs F replies.

"I wonder what they taste like?" Kid asks.

"You've had almonds before; I think you like them. You can try them." Mrs F answers.

"Okay, good, because I felt bad about it, but I did try one." Kid clarifies.

"Oh, that's fine, they're healthy." Mrs F returns.

"I also noticed you bought some dark chocolate covered almonds..." Kid adds, then bursts out laughing.