Saint Charles, MO was NOT the place to be last night...

So last night I was at Wal-Mart with my kiddos. We were just finishing up the grocery shopping and only had a few things on the list. I knew that there was some rain coming and wanted to get home before the storm reached us.

Well the tornado sirens went off and I didn't really think that much of it. Around here they are used when ever bad weather is coming, it doesn't normally mean a tornado.

I was at the check out when the second siren sounded. I packed up my small bag worth 37 bucks and hurried towards the door. As SOON as I hit door I RAN...with my two kids sitting in the cart I RAN though the Walmart parking lot. I looked up to see almost a continuous light show in the clouds and I could feel the air changing. I practically threw my kids in the car and screeched out of the parking lot.

I thought I was going to make it home...that was so not true.

Apparently the storm was moving at 70 MPH and was NASTY. I made a right turn heading towards home and only had a few drops of water on my window. I made the last left and the next thing I knew I couldn't see farther then twenty feet in front of me. It was weird...The water wasn't streaming down my window, it wasn't even touching my window.  By this point the clouds were freaking me out and I was stopped to debate on running or trying to get home.

I decided to make a run for the house...it became a scene out of one of those end of the world movies...here I am in my AWESOME mini van with the two most precious things in my life dodging tree limbs and they are falling from the trees lining the road. I have my daughter FREAKING out in the back seat while limbs are crashing around us....trash cans are flying across the street and 70 MPH winds are pushing my van around. I have never been so scared in my life. I wasn't scared for me...I was scared for my babies. I was also scared for my husband who was at home and being a dip shit and standing in the backyard watching the show.

So after I got done dodging the things that were trying to kill us last night I skidded to a stop in my garage. The one thing I hadn't noticed was that the power went out as soon as the garage door was up. This means that the wind and the rain that was sheeting into my garage wasn't going to stop and there was a tornado coming. I leaped out of my car climbed up the side and freed my door from the track. I got soaked in the process but managed to pull the door down manually and get my kids inside.

I love my house...it is my home and it is where my kids feel safe but the blasted thing doesn't have a basement. What it does have is a space we call a cubby under the stairs. It is the most reinforced area in our house and most likely the safest in a storm like this. I crammed my two crying terrified children in there and sat in the dark until the storm was past. Ok we weren't totally in the dark, I had a flashlight on my phone that I used to make shadow puppets on my wall to keep my kids calm.

It was terrifying but in the end the worst thing that happened was a few tears and a power outage for 11 hours.

We are safe and sound thank god...but this has been a weird few weeks I tell you!