Sixteen Years Ago

Sixteen years ago....I was barely twenty. I was very single and I was very pregnant.

Sixteen years ago last weekend a tornado hit Powell & Lenoir City. I was again very pregnant and living in my mom's trailer. Storms don't scare me they excite me because I know God is in control. I looked outside and watched the rain come down in sheets almost sideways. I listened to try and hear the twister. It hit the trailer park down the road from ours. It was very surreal to drive around after the storm had passed to see the damage it had caused. I was filled with awe. Jay & I were not dating but I find it interesting that he lived in Lenoir City and I lived in Powell. Tornadoes don't often hit in the TN Valley.


Wow, it has been 16 yrs!


Sixteen years ago this coming Friday a major blizzard hit. Before the snow came I went to the OBGYN for my regular weekly check and he said I was dilated 3 cm's. Mom told me I wasn't allowed to give birth. Needless to say I waited a week later.

It's Like Pulling Teeth

Kat wiggling her loose tooth.

Okay I know you have heard that saying..."It's like pulling teeth." Well that has a whole new meaning for the Tidwell household. Here is the beginning...

Back in November during a rehearsal for the Christmas musical at our church our daughter Kathryn accidentally got headbutted during the practice bow. She became hysterical as only our Kat can. We finally calmed her down and the tooth was loose but not ready to come out by any means. Well the adult tooth came in behind the loose tooth. She looked so cute. You could see the bulge of the tooth when she closed her lips.

Now, it is March and her tooth has been very loose for about 3 months. I kept telling her to wiggle it and pull it out. Well she started playing with it this last week. She would blow on the tooth to make it wiggle and then laugh. That got old! Jay told her that he was going to pull it out. She kept stalling and saying that she was not ready. (Now keep in mind this tooth is hanging on by a little piece of skin!)

Both Jay & I got tired of it and this past Sunday we had enough. It was a nice day and she wanted to go out and play with her friends but Jay said that the tooth needed out first. She cried and screamed, "But I am not ready!" First I tried to hold her while Jay pulled her tooth but she would not stop screaming and crying and she would not open her mouth. Then we went to the bathroom because she wanted to look at it. Again she would not open her mouth and continued to cry & scream. So, I said that I was going to get the pliers and left the bathroom. I was so furious with her. It's just a tooth and it is just hanging on by a thread! She locked the door so I could not get in. I heard Jay calmly try to talk to her and convince her that the tooth had to come out. She started screaming "but I'm scared!" Jay asked of what? She said "that it will hurt!" Meanwhile, I got the pliers and stood outside the door half infuriated and half laughing. My son, Josh was sitting in the living room laughing and shaking his head. The windows were opened and I wondered if anyone was going to call DHHR on us for child abuse since she sounded like we were killing her. Her friends were outside laughing. I unlock the door and she screams "she's coming with the pliers!" and "I'm scared of it hurting!" I open the door and I look at her. I pinch her arm not hard but enough to hurt a little and she said "ouch that hurt!" I told her that now she doesn't have to be scared of the pain of the tooth being pulled. She didn't buy it. I gave Jay the pliers and left the room because I was too angry and Jay is better at keeping his cool around Kat. Finally he got tired of her dodging and flicked the tooth with his fingers and it just fell out.

It took about 2 hours of her screaming and crying and carrying on. It makes me think this must be how God feels when we do the same thing if He is asking something of us that we don't like or don't want to do. Please know that I love Kat with all my heart but she is so headstrong and stubborn that she gets carried away with fear that makes no sense. Yep, that saying takes new meaning for us here at the Tidwell house.