The Tornado that died at our house.

Did I ever tell you the story about the Tornado that got killed at our house? I didn't? Well pull up a chair!

I know what you're thinking. How do you kill a tornado? Well, I'm pretty sure that between the 6 of us, there's not a thing we can't accomplish if we work together.

It all began on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The daddy was taking a nap, the baby was taking a nap, the mommy was feeling guilt creep up inside her from all of the things she says she'll do someday but never actually does so she seized the moment, made a plan and went on a scavenger hunt of sorts to find her ingredients. Item #1: A glass jar. None in sight...not to be discouraged she bounds down the stairs to where her mom has other cool stuff hidden in the kitchen cabinets below and voila! A glass jar is found. CHECK! Item #2: Dish Soap. Check. Item #3: Food Coloring. CHECK! Item #4: Marble. CHECK! ...lest you think we're on a roll...Item#5: Lid for previously mentioned glass jar. Uh. Hmm. The only lid she can find is the one that roofed the teeny tiny jar "house" that held the captured grasshopper and 'Sam Proclaimed' newest member of our family (albeit for a VERY SHORT TIME) a few weeks prior, that had been lovingly adorned with a gazillion nail holes and rendered very un-waterproof. DARN! What to do what to do.. AHA! Again, not to be discouraged, the mommy remembers the yummy bear lake raspberry jam in the refrigerator and does a little switcheroo with the lids. (we are now the proud owners of bear lake raspberry jam with a seran wrapped and nail-holed lid) HOORAY! Now for the fun part! I excitedly gather the three boys beside me and start my commands. "Josh, fill this jar with water up to here", "Sam, pour three long squirts of dish soap here", "Gabe, stick this marble in here" (we forgot about the food coloring). Then they all watched with excited eyes as I spun the jar 'round and 'round in circles and then held it up for all to see! A TORNADO! WOW! OOH, AAH! WOAH! Happiness all around! Daddy wakes up and comes out to see what all the fuss is about, the baby wakes up and cries to come out and see what all the fuss is about and everyone takes a turn making the tornado in the jar. YIPPEE! And then, another idea starts brewing... Sam asks if we can add ANOTHER marble to the mix, to see if it makes an even BIGGER tornado. I say why not and they happily run off toward the marble stash, and then back to the kitchen. Happiness, happiness, glee, glee.

And then... it happens. Just like that, they killed the Tornado. "Oops" one of them says..."um, mom, dad, we broke the tornado" another one says. Mom and Dad (in unison) say "HOW?" another one says "we DON'T KNOW!" and that is their story. Nobody knows how, and nobody broke it, except that I think it was later determined that Sam broke it, but he still doesn't know how, and he still insists that it just broke "all by itself"...and then, we cleaned up broken glass, water, dish soap and marbles for a half an hour, and then Mark saved baby Will from nearly ingesting a broken piece of glass the size of his thumb (the NEXT DAY! - we REALLY thought we'd gotten it all!) and that is the story of the Tornado that died at our house.


The End.


ps. I'm saving this story for me to read the next time I have guilt creep up inside me for all the things I say I'll do but never actually do. See what can happen? Maybe it's better sometimes to just be lazy. After all...you just never know!