tsunami

Don't worry, the reason I have been absent from the blog isn't because we got swept away by the tsunami last Saturday. We get tsunami warnings usually about once a year and they usually end up being nothing, maybe a little surge of water that no one even notices. Not that we shouldn't take the warnings seriously but I'm kind of over the media lately and their gross exaggeration of the facts. As we were watching the news at a friends house (where we evacuated because they live up on the "high" ground and we live in the coastal region) we were watching the live camera footage on the Big Island (where all the damage of the tsunami was supposed to hit first) waiting to see this wall of water come and wash out the park the camera was focused on. We did see the sea getting sucked out some and then the water rising again. Kind of like what the ocean normally does when the currents go out before a wave rolls into the beach. And the newscasters (trying to create the drama) were shouting (as if they were sports commentators at a game) "Wow, look at all the turbulence" and "There has definitely been a rise in the water levels" and "Remember, it's the not the first wave that is the biggest". Until finally the newscasters gave up and realized there wasn't really anything that exciting going on and they switched back over to the Olympics. So we packed up, said goodbye to our friends and went home. Kind of a crazy day.

So other than that I thought I would give a quick run down of what else has been going on...and I'll even throw in a few pictures.

- We are still recovering from our "thick as molasses" snot sicknesses. Thick snot is pretty miserable for kids that don't know how to blow their own noses yet. So we let the beach and the swimming pool drain our noses for us. I know the boys swim teacher loved that.

- On to other things less gross...I hit a baking/cooking mood this week. I think it was due to the fact that we took last week off (from school, MOPS, Bible Study, swim lessons, Awanas, etc.) to recover from our before mentioned sicknesses and it gave me a little extra free time. So my greatest accomplishment of the week was making three different meals from the same leftovers...and it all tasted really good! I got a huge package of boneless pork chops from Costco which I had intended on splitting into smaller portions and freezing. Well for some reason it all got frozen together and I was trying to think of how I could use it all up since it would take a couple of weeks for our little family to get through them. So my first meal was to marinate all of the pork chops in a Citrus/Basil marinade, then grill them all. The next meal, I cut up the grilled chops and made Pork Fajitas with a splash of lime, green peppers and onions. And the last meal, I put the rest of the grilled chops into a crock pot with some bar-b-que sauce and let them cook all day to make pulled pork sandwiches. So I thought I would document this amazing phenominon because it will probably never happen again...okay maybe I've been stuck inside for too long. I think I need to get out of the house before I start posting on how much I love my bread machine

- To keep ourselves occupied this week...being somewhat home bound so we didn't spread our germs...we made some playdough. I love fresh playdough and the fact that it keeps my kiddo's happy and busy.

I love you too Ethan!

- I did a bit of sewing to make a bear, bib, burpie set for Jason's school auction. It was fun to do and hopefully it will raise a little bit of money for them....if no one bids on it, I don't want to know. :o)-We rediscovered the water table...Ansley's first experience. This girl loves water (you can't tell that by her very serious expression) which is why we have learned to keep the bathroom doors shut. One time splashing her little hands in the toilet water was one time too many.

-The full moon was back and we hung out at the beach until the sun set so we could see the beautiful moonscape again. I love the beauty of God's creation! Because of Ethan's Astronomy study this year I am more in awe of the amazing detail of our universe created by God...I don't get how others can believe that it was all an accident and that it all fell into place with such great detail by chance.

- Lately we have had some winter/windy/rainy weather. You know a high of 78 degrees and a low tonight of 69 degrees. That calls for socks during the day and an extra blanket at night. I'm such a wimp.

Okay that's enough. I could keep going on about nothing but laundry is calling...taking the week off doesn't mean the laundry stopped piling up.