Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On

So for those of you who watch the news or read the paper you know that we had a fairly big earth quake yesterday in Southern California. Not "the big one", but a 5.4 centered in Chino Hills (not too far from us here in Fullerton) so not too shabby.....

I was in Target at the time, standing in the shampoo&soap aisle, having put the last item I needed into my cart. As things started falling off the shelves and exploding at my feet I had a dim thought at the back of my brain that perhaps this would be a good time to get out of the aisle.....the shaking only lasted ~30 seconds (although it always seems to take FOREVER, doesn't it?) but the store was a total mess. As I pushed my cart to the check-out area I realized they were evacuating the store; Noooooo!!! I caught a cashier's eye and indicated my full cart - "Can I just quickly check out?" I asked sweetly. "We are evacuating the store ma'am. FOR YOUR SAFETY" she said, assuming I was so traumatized I had momentarily lost my mind. No, I've just lived in California too long. Clearly no one was dead and nothing was on fire, so you know, can I just please get on with my day?

The kids were fine; after the shaking stopped Jack asked if Miss Ady could "do it again!" When I stopped over to check on them they greeted me with "Why are you here? Do we have to go home?" Obviously they are scarred for life.

There was a gas leak on the CSUF campus so it was closed for the day. A nice excuse to stay home and knit, but I paid for it today when I opened the door to my office this morning. Piles of books - everywhere. I couldn't see the floor. Oh well, I've been meaning to reorganize and purge anyway, so I suppose this was just the nudge I needed.

All in all we are fine, and thanks to all who called and checked in.

I'll just be sitting over there...um....sitting.

B is in New Jersey, so I treated myself to a night at Jenna and Don's house. I plied them with dinner, and they graciously allowed me to foist my children off on my Goddaughter Jacquelyn for the evening. Jacquelyn is 4? 5? (Yes, I am the worst Godmother ever) and loves to play "big sister" to my three, who absolutely adore her. Especially Cate. Jenna and Don are Cathryn's Godparents, so Jacquelyn has decided that Cate is something akin to a younger sister. She loves to boss Cate around, and surprisingly enough (given Cate's own natural tendency towards bossiness) Cate loves it too.

Around 7:30 we threw them all into the tub, where they splashed and played happily for 20 minutes. Then Jack wanted out. Then Ava. I went to get Cate but when I got to the bathroom Jacquelyn pulled the shower curtain closed and announced they were having "private time". I called over to Don relaying that Jacquelyn and Cate were having private time in the tub. "Oh God. This can't be good." We managed to coax both girls out of the tub and into their jammies. I turned to go into Jacquelyn's room to grab the kids' clothes and was met by Cathryn who holds up her hand and says very seriously "Mom. We need some space."

Sorry kiddo, didn't know I was cramping your style. Can we even imagine what she is going to be like in ten years? On second thought - let's not.

Hello, my name is Jenn and I went camping with my kids.

And you? Do you camp with your kids? Your three kids? In the woods? Because I do. Camp, I mean. With my three kids. In the woods.

I'm thinking about having a badge made. Or maybe I'll put it on my business cards.

I am working on a long, detailed recounting of our camping experience, but thought I would post a short version for those of you who would rather read the Cliff Notes than the novel. Here it is:

I went camping with my kids. In the woods. It was GREAT. The End.

The worship of the CAMPING GODDESS that is me may now begin.

Poop on You

I swear to God that if my son poops in his pants one more time I am going to make him eat it.

Is that wrong?

VBS

On Sunday we went to church. We are fairly regular about this during the academic year, but for some reason we often get derailed in summer and our attendance could be characterized as sporadic at best. I actually like going to church - I love the peace and quiet, the ritual hum of the mass, the opportunity to connect to a larger community and the chance to sit quietly and reflect about things slightly more important than "Did I charge my cell phone?" "Do we have enough milk?" "Am I ever going to get tenure?".

I had forgotten that July is our church's month for Vacation Bible School. Vacation Bible School is a concept that usually makes me want to laugh out loud - seriously, what on earth do "bible" and "school" have to do with vacation? What a crock. Yes, I know, I'm going to hell. I'll save you a seat. Anyhoo, this past Sunday was the start of VBS at our church. Months ago when they asked the kids what they wanted to do for VBS one of them suggested that the only thing anyone was really interested in was food. (and you begin to see why I love my church) So they decided to do "Feasts of the Bible" as the theme (!!!) and they decided to have VBS right after the 10am service on Sunday, as opposed to having it sometime during the week. I think this is a great idea, as it is much easier for the congregation to hang out and celebrate with the kids right after church; that is really what VBS is all about - supporting the youth of our church with our presence, showing them that they are an important part of this community of faith and that we care about them and want to get to know them better.

This week was "The Wedding At Cana" (for all you heathens out there this is the miracle where Jesus turns water into wine and a good time is had by all; those early Christians were party people. Go Jesus!). The church hall was all done up "wedding style" complete with a wedding canopy. There was a "wedding cake contest"; some of our more creative bakers brought in renditions of miniature wedding cakes. There was an art contest - Ava won! And a toilet-paper bride contest - I think Cate would have won, if not for the last minute meltdown and subsequent rending of garments. The newest married couple lead the Hokey Pokey (Ava had a ball dancing to that one) and the couple married longest lead the Chicken Dance (shake your tail feathers for Jesus!). At one point Father Mark asked all the married couples to come on to the dance floor with their kids and lead us in a renewal of our vows. As I stood there holding Brian's hand, repeating the old "for better and for worse yadda yadda yadda" with our three little lunatics spinning around us, I was overcome by that feeling of complete and total satisfaction that comes when you realize that you completely and totally made the right choice. As God is my witness I love that man till death do us part, and maybe even after that.

Of course, what would a "Feasts of the Bible" event be without a feast? The kids really knocked themselves out and assembled a table laden with savories and goodies. I particularly enjoyed the chili relleno casserole and spinach salad. But the piece de resistance (at least for my kids) was the chocolate fountain. By the end of the feast it looked as if they had bathed in it. Is it sacrilegious to say "Thank God for Oxyclean?"

American Flags!!!

Holidays are so much fun now that the kids are a bit older; they really get into the spirit of things now. They have been doing 4th of July activities in school all week - making flags and counting stars, talking about fireworks, etc. We look for American flags when we drive around town. We put big American flag poster-board cut-outs on the windows in the living room; the other day Cate brought one to me and asked if I would help her count the stars. We got to about 14 and she lost patience; when I told her there were fifty stars she rolled her eyes at me, as if to say "Oh mom, please. That is just ridiculous." She likes counting the stripes better.

For the 4th we went to Mimi's house - she lives in Santa Ana where fireworks are still legal. She set up the kiddie pool and kids splashed around happily until dinner - a delicious feast of barbequed ___________ (insert your favorite food here - we had it all), roasted corn on the cob, fruit salad, bean salad, a million other delicious things I am forgetting. Big shout out to Karm and Auntie, the cooks - Whoot!

After dinner we had a couple of rounds of croquet. Mimi won the first round; she had a few spectacular shots that put her ahead of the pack and she road out the lead to victory. John won the second round because he cheats - just kidding. At least this year there were no windows broken.

It finally got dark and we had our fireworks show. The kids did their very first sparklers; Brian crouched down low beside them, carefully lighting the sparkles and placing them in their hands, their faces illuminated by the dancing lights. Why can't my eyes be cameras? Then the kids wrapped up in their blankets and snuggled in their little camp chairs to watch the big show, put on by uncle JD and the boys. After the show we all ate hot dogs (a long standing Trevitt tradition) and drove home through the clouds of sulfur.

Happy 4th!