Earth shattering news

We live up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The land discovered by Lewis and Clark and purchase by Thomas Jefferson for a song (and a dance) a couple hundred years ago, but not yet discovered by the masses.

By God's grace, our neck of the woods is really a piece of Heaven on earth. We get to enjoy four seasons (you know; baseball season, fishing season, football season, and basketball season). Though we have some nasty creepy crawlies (like Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders) and snakes out here aren't too friendly (the famed and feared rattlesnake doesn't want anyone to forget it was here first), in general, it is pretty safe. We don't have hurricanes or tornadoes, and we're fairly well protected from tsunamis in most places.

Over the course of our recent history, though, we've had a few exciting things. A volcano has blown its top. And, earthquakes have shaken our foundations a time or two. Never very seriously, but enough to say we'd been in an earthquake. Actually, I've been in at least two.

A couple of my daughters and I were actually very close to the epicenter of one during our recent visit with friends in Moses Lake, WA. It was pretty minor (3.2 on the richter scale), and we didn't even really feel it. All that really matters is the fact that it happened. One interesting piece of information the news cast left out, though. Just about the same time the earthquake was registering, a bunch of very exuberant little girls were running down the second floor hallway of a local hotel on their way back from playing in the pool. A coincidence? I don't think so!! And, for the purposes of discouraging such behavior in the future, this mom thinks the timing works out quite well. Next time my children think about running, I can warn them not to, they might cause an earthquake!

The Power of Example

I am an over-protective mom.

When my kids ride in a car, they ALWAYS ride in seat belts or approved boosters. I was even told one of my children needed to NOT be in a booster because she was too big. My one year old daughter still rides with her carseat facing backwards, because it is safer.

Every one of my children wear helmets when they ride their bikes or scooters, period. I used to have trouble with my husband. He'd make comments about how he never used a helmet when he was growing up. But, after a helmet saved the life of our third daughter, he was convinced.

Now, I've discovered just how powerful examples can be. Our three year old son has a very cool bike - it is a Tonka bike. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to ride it nearly as often as he would like to, because we live on a relatively busy street and I'm overprotective. But, I recently told him he could ride his bike on our walk.

After giving my little guy permission to ride his bike, I proceeded to finish getting my youngest daughter ready for our walk. In a few minutes, I called for my son, to let him know it was time to get his bike out. I couldn't find him ANYWHERE! I checked for him upstairs, downstairs, and in the back yard. He wasn't anywhere, but I did discover the garage door was open.

To my horror, I found my son riding his bike up and down the street!!

Though he'd never been shown how, my little three year old unlocked and opened the garage door all by himself, put his helmet on (backwards), and pulled his bike out of its assigned spot. All learned simply by watching the example of others.

It is easy to forget just how powerful our example is, and how much training is going on simply by the example we set.

I wish I always set good examples! I wish that I always made the right choice. Because I always see, in my children, the results of the example I've set. In this case, the example was good. I wish it always was.

The Danger of Safety

As a dutiful homeschooling mother, I recently checked out several books on safety from the library. You know, all the cute little preschool stories about looking both ways before you cross the street, why you never talk to strangers, and what to do if you catch fire.

Being the dutiful homeschooling mama that I am, it seemed appropriate, after reading a book on what to do if you catch fire, to practice. So, we did.

First, we went through the steps:

1. STOP
2. DROP
3. ROLL

It was simple enough, so after reviewing the steps, we were ready. We milled about the room for a few moments, then I announced, "Oh no. You're on fire!" Immediately, everyone in the room stopped what they were doing, dropped to the ground, and proceeded to roll with great enthusiasm and giggling (it is, after all, quite entertaining to be rolling around on the ground pretending to be on fire). The problem was, we didn't roll the same direction.

You can imagine what happened; kids rolled into each other and into furniture. In just moments, pandemonium broke out! Two kids simultaneously burst into tears. Then the baby, sure something terrible was going on, added her shrill cry to the cacophany. How, I asked myself, could a lesson on safety go so wrong?

Then, almost as quickly as it began, the rucus was over. Cuddled in the safety of Mom's lap, with comforting arms around them, the three youngest kids were soon consoled.

It was a very memorable lesson, though I think I learned more than the kids. One thing for sure, the next time we practice safety techniques, I'll be sure to coordinate our response and clear the area of furniture!

Rocket science... or not

Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake. To borrow another phrase, I may not be the sharpest tack in the box. That is the only reason I could have lived in the same house for over a year and only today had my "ah-ha moment." And no, it did not take a rocket scientist!

The source of my ah-ha moment was with the shower. We have one shower. We have seven bodies using that one shower. Thus it is logistically impossible to get every one of those seven bodies clean and ready for church on Sunday morning. Not only do we quickly run out of hot water (not too bad in the summer, but very much a bummer in the middle of winter), but we also quickly run out of time! If you figure 15 minutes per shower (and that is conservative when six women or women-to-be are showering) times seven people, it takes almost two hours of constant use, just to get bodies clean and that doesn't include time to dry off or wipe down the shower walls!

Though I knew a household of women would need a second shower/bath in time, it wasn't until today that I realized just how badly we need one. If we had a second shower, we could reduce the necessary shower time by half (though it would do nothing to reduce water usage or the available amount of hot water) and reduce the burden on our main bathroom.

Unfortunately for us, I have no idea how long it will take to get that second shower or even where to start. I have an old clawfoot bath tub and we have a place for a shower/bath, but getting from need to concept to design to implementation is a process I can not even imagine right now. So, we'll have to figure out another creative solution. Hmm, I wonder what time the Y opens on Sunday mornings?

Christmas memories

I love Christmas!! It is such a special time, filled with precious memories, traditions, and (my personal favorite) time with family!

Actually, this year was extra special because we had extra time with my husband's family. Everyone is pretty tired by now, but the time over the last week has been very sweet. To top it off, today we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family, too.