Life with the Ball's: The Storm That Never Was

Heavy rain and 60+ mph winds were supposed to hit the Seattle area on Saturday. People were in a panic. Randy and I were not. We have survived living on the East Coast for seven years and have seen our fair share of storms and power outages and figured this storm was nothing to worry about. On Friday, the rain was pouring down hard and fast and our power flickered on and off multiple times before I'd even gotten the kids off to school. I finally decided that maybe it was time to admit this storm could actually do some damage, especially since our home is surrounded by towering trees that could topple over in the wind.
After dropping off Parker at preschool, I headed down to Home Depot for a rug pad {because I finally bought a new rug and I'm so excited about it!} and while I was there I witnessed the mad rush for the generators. People were buying them faster than the employees could stock them on the shelves. I decided I might as well buy one too. So I did. But then I found out I'd need a special 30 amp plug to hook it up and every store in a 25 mile radius was sold out of them. The heavens were smiling down on me because I walked over to the electrical aisle and found the nicest old man and asked him if there was any way to jimmy rig something together. {We have a great neighbor who can do all things electrical so I thought it would be worth a shot.} He laughed at me for thinking such a thing was possible and then made a quick phone call to a small electrical shop up the canyon. It turned out they had one cord left so they set it aside for me and ten minutes later I had THE LAST 30 AMP CHORD IN THE STATE! Wahoo!! It felt glorious.
As Friday progressed the weather got worse and eventually all Saturday sporting activities, including Homecoming, got canceled. That meant I didn't have to stand in the wind and rain watching Marcus and Ethan in their games. Things were feeling glorious again!
On Saturday morning we woke up to typical rain and drizzle. I turned on every light in the house {because I could}, cranked up the heat {so the house would stay warmer longer after the power went out}, and started doing the laundry {when the power goes out it's my washing machine and refrigerator I miss the most}. Randy ran a few errands like purchasing gasoline for the generator while I stayed home and baked because this was the first time that I can remember having nothing scheduled on a Saturday.

Parker is the only boy who likes to help me bake. Ethan will help only because he feels sorry for me.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm no food blogger and photographing food is not a skill I possess. But trust me when I tell you these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are delicious! And easy. Years ago, I gave the recipe to my friend Mel, so you can check it out on a real food blog, however I've made a few changes to the recipe and it's even better now. {For a lighter, fluffier muffin soften the butter, it can even be a little melted, and mix the batter until it's smooth. Pour the batter into a greased muffin tin instead of using cupcake liners. Trust me!}

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, be still my heart! I wanted to eat the whole pan

Well, by 6pm we were ready. We looked out the windows. We checked the news. We waited. Things were so eerily calm we figured either the end was sure to come or there wasn't a storm at all. Well, the storm never came. Not even a little bit. We were all a little disappointed. The weathermen totally misread this one and should be fired. The boys built forts in their room by the light of their flashlights like they'd planned and had way too much fun wrestling with their shirts off, meanwhile Randy and I locked ourselves in the bonus room and watched TV and ate our weight in baked goods.