A. To the Rescue

A. arrived home on Friday evening, blowing in the door with a big thunderstorm, which turned into a nasty and prolonged windstorm. He ate dinner with us and helped put the kids to bed, and then the power went out.

Jack flipped out about the sudden lack of nightlight and A. sat with him in his room until he fell asleep. Meanwhile, I got some water for Cubby and then helped him find his bed again in his windowless laundry room-bedroom when he went back to bed. And nursed Poppy when she woke up.

And this is why single motherhood is such a daunting prospect. I'm way too outnumbered by these kids.

The power was still out in the morning, with no estimated time of repair by the power company. Something like 30,000 people were without power. It was a big, damaging storm. So damaging, in fact, that a three-foot section of our roof shingles was flopping about in the still-blowing wind. So after going to the dump, A. went to the hardware store and got roofing tar and roofing nails to patch it.

Technically we should just call the landlady so she can send someone to fix stuff, but out here in the boonies that's easier said than done. It's hard to get people to come out here. So A. climbed up on the roof and fixed it to ensure that we wouldn't have leaks in our kitchen ceiling when it rains.

It was such a nice reminder of how much he loves roofing. Although this roof was significantly less deadly than the roofs at Blackrock.

In addition, he hauled several five-gallon buckets of water from the creek in the woods so we could flush the toilets, wash hands, and do the dishes.

I have serious issues with waking up to a dirty kitchen, to the point that I will boil pots of water and do dishes without running water. Which I did last night.

He also took all four kids for a walk so I could take a desperately needed nap, took the three boys to the playground, and grilled our Cinco de Mayo steak for tacos on the grill.

The power came back on at 8 p.m. That's almost 24 hours without electricity. It would have been a much harder 24 hours if A. hadn't been here with us.

This photo is from the night of A.'s baptism. Despite the boys' expressions, they really do love their Daddy.