Earthquake!

Yikes! We just had an earthquake here! I was here on the computer and the kids were watching TV when we felt a jolt, then a shaking. I gathered everyone up and we went to a doorway, which is what we are supposed to do. It continued to roll for awhile then finally stopped. There is no damage here and we are all fine. Just a little shaken. We have phone coverage and electricity.

According to the TV, it was a 5.8 which is a decent size quake. It was centered about 20 miles northeast of here (more or less). Steve was at work and he said that he felt it strong where he is. That's kind of weird as he is further west than I am. But he works in a big building so maybe that's why. Cell phone coverage is out. Systems must be overloaded.

I hope people are safe where the epicenter is. I would be watching the news right now, but I want the kids to get their minds off the quake so we'll watch some Spongebob. It's also time for lunch so I'm off to fix that.


ETA: News is now reporting the earthquake was 5.4. Still big enough for me!

Swimming, Swimming, and More Swimming!

Gosh, I hadn't realized how long it had been since I last posted!

I've been consumed with the swimming pool! Ryan and Emily started swim lessons last week and since they were a little scared of doing some stuff in the water, I've been taking them to the pool at the park to get them used to the water a little more. Back floats and dunking their heads in the water have been their weak spots. I take them around the pool on my back and have them practice their kicking. That gets me a little tired after awhile. I try to help them with their back floating, but that's a little trickier. They both don't like to have the back of their heads in the water. But we do what's comfortable for them so they don't freak out. That would defeat the purpose. I'm trying to make everything fun while trying to practice what they need to be learning. And, little by little, they're making progress. They're not as afraid any more, and they're just now starting to dunk their heads all the way down!

So, I'm a little tuckered out right now. Along with the swimming, we still have basketball practices and games to go to. Luckily, this is the last week of swimming lessons. I wish basketball was over, but both Kathryn and Ryan's teams have playoffs. I don't know how the playoffs will work as this is our first year of basketball. I secretly hope our teams lose so we can be finished! I know that sounds awful, but Kathryn and Ryan are tired of it already, too!

I don't know how all you soccer moms out there do it. I get tired of all the running around. I guess by now, you're probably wondering why I sign up the kids for all these sports. Well, aside from the swimming, which was my idea, Steve is the one that enjoys all these sporting things and he signs them up. He loves doing this stuff with the kids and they enjoy it, too (most of the time)! I enjoy it, too, but up to a point. Once it starts to get me frazzled with the running around from place to place, I'm ready to hang it all up. That's where I'm at right now.

I haven't had a chance to upload some pictures lately, but I hope to get to it soon. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Sorry if this post sounded a little whiny. I do love my life and wouldn't trade it for anything!

I Need New Glasses!!

I'm now starting to feel officially middle-aged. I desperately need bifocals!! When I had my eyes checked two or three years ago, the optometrist said I didn't need them yet, as my close-up vision was still pretty good (I'm near-sighted -- I can see things close-up without my glasses but not far away). I could read with or without my glasses. Now, it's gotten to the point where I can't read at all with my glasses. I have to put everything more than an arm's length away to see it! So, I just take off my glasses to read or do close-up work. My arms are getting a lot of exercise taking them on and off, on and off. If I were far-sighted it would be a little better because I could place the glasses on my nose, just so, and I could look above the glasses to see far away and through the glasses at my book, knitting, or whatever. But when you're near sighted, you don't have a place to put your glasses. Maybe paste them at the eyebrows so they'll be at eye level for far away stuff and just look down below the glasses for the close-up stuff. I know that doesn't make any sense, but since I am nearsighted, I understand myself! LOL! Maybe those of you who are also nearsighted can get what I'm trying to get across!! Main thing - I can't see close-up while wearing my glasses.





So, it's time to see the eye doctor. I first have to check on my insurance and refresh my memory about what's covered. If I remember correctly, it didn't cover much. It covered a very little amount for the glasses so I've ended up paying a whole lot.

I took Ryan and Kathryn to get a few uniform items for school. Kathryn needed a bigger size skirt and Ryan needed an extra pair of pants and shorts. Thankfully the uniform place was not crowded. I was afraid there would be a huge wait. Not good when I have Emily! So, we were there for a short time, then we met Steve at work and had some lunch. We always love meeting him for lunch.

Kathryn has basketball practice tonight. Let's hope that Emily can get through that time without falling down. My goodness, it seems like the last three times she's gone, she somehow falls down on the cement and scrapes her knees, elbows, hands, etc. One thing for sure, she lives hard!

I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before, but I need to get a first aid kit for the car. I have a few band-aids in my purse, but I need some in all shapes. I just bought some Neosporin to Go.

Now I'm off to clean out the refrigerator. That's my first step before making out my menu for the next week. I hope there's not too many science experiments in there!

Blessings, everyone!

What I've Been Up To

I've just been taking it easy and trying to keep the kids occupied so they won't get on each other's nerves.

Earlier in the week, we went to Universal City Walk (an outdoor shopping area) near Universal Studios. We had some lunch, spent an accidental fortune on candy, and just enjoyed window shopping. Regarding the candy, the store is one of those where you choose your own in a bag and pay by weight. As I was helping Emily get her 1/4 of a lb amount, Kathryn went on her own and loaded up on Jelly Beans and M&M's. She thought you just filled up the bag with whatever you wanted. Of course, the rules are, once you get the candy, you just can't put it back. The total ended up being something like $20.00. Too much for our pocketbook, on candy, no less!!!

This is Emily enjoying some of Kathryn's loot!

Steve painted Kathryn's room. It's now a BRIGHT pink. A very modern look for our cool girl!

This is just a swatch of the color. It's much brighter in real life.

The kids had lots of basketball practice going on. Games are usually on the weekend.

We've done some reading and worked on Math skills.

We had this visitor in our house the other day.




When Ryan and Emily came running into my room saying there was some kind of big bug flying in the living room, I was secretly panicking because I was so hoping it would not be a flying cockroach. Those things FREAK ME OUT!!!! I need Steve to handle that stuff but he was at work, so I had to be the grown up and take care of the situation. I was so relieved when I saw that it was just one of these beetles. I don't know what they're really called but we call them Japanese Beetles. They have a really pretty fluorescent green shell. We seem to get these in the house every so often. I don't know how they get in, but when we find one, we get it and send it back outside. It makes a buzzing noise like the June bugs.

Yesterday was the start of our county fair. I love going there every year. I usually go twice - once with the kids and once just Steve and I. The kids don't usually care to spend lots of time looking at the foods and crafts on display. I enjoy looking at all that stuff. I have to take snapshots of beautiful crocheted and knitted items for inspiration! That reminds me I need to continue with the Minnie Mouse afghan!!

Here's a snapshot of the books I'm reading right now. I usually try to read one book at a time, but I couldn't resist when I saw these at the local library and my church library.

Love's Abiding Joy by Janette Oke - 4th in the Love Comes Softly series

This is a wonderful story about living in the frontier West.

Come Be My Light - writings of Blessed Mother Teresa

Excellent insights into her life

Only Heroic Catholic Families Will Survive - Fr. Robert J. Fox

These are great essays and articles written by an assortment of people about family life, marriage, parenthood, and what it truly means to be a Catholic family in today's culture.

So, I'm enjoying these warm summer days, just doing the simple things with my family.

I hope you're all enjoying your summer. And for those of you Down Under, I hope you're staying warm and cozy!

Menu Plan Monday

Here is my planned menu for the week:

Monday: Tasty Onion Chicken, Zucchini Rice Pilaf, salad

Tuesday: Chili, tortilla chips, cornbread, fruit

Wednesday: Hamburgers, roasted potatoes w/onion soup mix, fruit salad

Thursday: Beef n'Cheese French bread, salad

Friday: tacos, rice and pinto beans

Saturday: pizza, salad

Sunday: spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

For more great menu plans, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie