Oh what a night (and morning)!

~Late December back in '63... oops, sorry... got that Four Seasons song stuck in my head after reading that title. :-P (Thank you, Ingrid, for correcting me on the artist of the song! ;) )

Oh, what a night and morning it was!  It started around 11:00 PM as I had JUST settled into bed... had my eyes closed for about 5 minutes and was just drifting off when the entire house fell completely silent.  Now no, there really wasn't much noise- the air conditioning had just shut off... but this was REALLY quiet.  After a few seconds, I rolled over and continued trying to go to sleep.  I hadn't noticed that the silence was from the lack of sound from the ceiling fan as well as the lack of white noise coming from the baby monitor....

I hear Mike stumble into our room and lay something on my night stand.  What in the world would he be laying on my night stand??  I lean over to turn on my touch lamp.  I tap it several times- nothing.  "What's wrong with my lamp??"

"The power is out.  I laid a flash light on your night stand."

Our power NEVER goes out.  It may flicker during a storm, but never stays out for any length of time really.  This was STRANGE.  No storms- it wasn't even raining.  What's going on?  I get up and look out the window- the entire street is dark except for a street light I manage to see about a block or so away through some trees.  All the street lights are out on our street as well as all our neighbors' interior and exterior lights.  Better call the electric company to report it since it's late and who knows how many other people are up at this hour to report it themselves.

BEEP.

We hear a smoke detector chirp a quick noise as if the battery were low.  Oh great.  Here we go.  There are a bazillion smoke detectors in this house and it's always a great challenge to figure out which one is chirping.  It stops though, so we don't worry about it.

We open the kids' window shades a bit so the moonlight will shine in since the night lights are out.  I crack Evan's door open so I can hear him if he makes any noise since the monitor is out.  I crawl back in bed.

BEEEEP!! BEEEEP!! BEEEEP!! BEEEEP!! BEEEEP!! The noise is LOUD and steady- longer and faster than a low battery signal, yet not fast enough to be a real alarm.  What is going on?? Mike and I run around upstairs trying to figure out which alarm is making this awful noise that is sure to wake up the kids.  There are 5 rooms upstairs with one alarm in each as well as two alarms in the hallway (one was from our security system which we don't use anymore but it still works).  We frantically look up at the ceiling, pinpointing the noise to the spare room upstairs, and then realize it's the carbon monoxide detector plugged in to the wall outlet down by the floor.  It was alarming due to the power being out, not because of any gas being detected in the house.  BUT, we have to make it stop!!  Mike grabs it and bolts downstairs, fidgeting with it to try to pry it open but having great difficulty.  He takes it outside and shuts the door.  I can still hear it pretty loudly inside the house and wonder how many of our neighbors we are waking up! LOL  He finally manages to get it open and take out the battery.  WHEW.

Can you believe all three kids slept through that???  While I was relieved they weren't awaken and scared, I was also a bit concerned that they were able to sleep through that racket.

Back to peace and quiet... complete silence... back to bed.

Around 3:00ish AM, Kaylin comes into our room all worried.  "Mommy, my alarm clock is flashing!"

"Don't worry, hon, the power went out and that's why it's flashing."

"THE POWER WENT OUT?!?!?!"

"Yes, sweetie, but it's back on now.  We'll fix your clock in the morning."  She heads back to bed.

4:00ish- Kaylin comes back in again.  "Mommy, I can't sleep because my clock keeps flashing.  I tried to set it but I can't make it stop."  I go in and set her clock for her and return to bed.

4:15ish: "Mommy, I can't set my alarm.  I tried to set it by myself but I don't know how to fix it."

"Kaylin, don't worry about your alarm.  I'll fix it in the morning."  {Please let me get some sleep!! LOL}

6:00 and the big kids are awake as usual.  We get ready for school, and head out the front door at 8:00 to head for the bus stop.  The kids step off the porch and stop dead in their tracks.  There's a young black lab sitting on the sidewalk just in front of our house- no collar, no owner in sight.

Let me give you a little background info- my kids have always been VERY hesitant with dogs.  Justin had an extreme fear for a very long time, even with cute little puppies.  Neither have ever had any experiences with mean dogs; I guess it's just the fear of being jumped on/clawed and licked.  I have to admit I had a fear of dogs when I was little as well, but it was just big dogs like German shepherds... Ok, so when I was three years old, I was petrified of my Godfather's golden retriever.  I admit it.

So this is a young dog- looks to be less than a year old- not fully grown but still a decent size.  This dog takes one look at the kids and starts RUNNING toward them in a playful manner- kids to play with me!!  Well let  me tell you- I believe our entire town could hear my two kids SCREAM for their LIFE!!  They ran up onto the porch, screaming bloody murder- sheer terror in their eyes.  I was standing over by the garage to get the stroller out of my van for Evan.  I talk to the dog and he immediately bounds over to me, jumping all excitedly, and runs all around.... the kids across the street have been trying to call the dog but apparently it wasn't the dog they thought it was, but soon I see a woman marching down the street with a leash.  Whew.  Nothing like a little excitement to start the day, especially after a restless night!

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Now to start working on my next post- Justin's birth story.  I can't believe his birthday is next week already!  I need to start now since it's quite the story to tell.... much drama, and my scariest birth story by far.