And Then July Was Over...

July is a happy, busy month around here.
2.5 weeks are spent preparing for and being at VBS.  That is much better than having nothing to do and trying to keep kids entertained in the ridiculous heat.  Especially because a large part of VBS is air conditioned, and this year, the hospitality team had iced coffee 8 out of 10 days for the volunteers. (one day they had horchata, which was also good. Oh, and a cucumber lemonade on the last day. Yum!)
I was so busy having fun, I didn't take a lot of pictures.

VBS took us through the third week of July.
We also did a trip to a really cool beach I'd never heard of, and a quick trip to Disneyland to renew our annual passes (and then to be blocked out because we had to downgrade. Thanks a lot, Disney!)

The final day of VBS ends with a pizza party for the volunteers, which my husband totally crashed this year.  He's a nice party crasher, though. He waited for everyone else to get food before he got a plate.

The week after VBS, I tried really hard to sleep in (staying up ridiculously late always helps).
We also started swim lessons. Well, the kids did.  I just sit on the bleachers and try not to smack teachers who throw my kids into the pool off of the diving board. What? That can't be right.  I did briefly mention to the office staff that this was not okay.  It was the second lesson (so my kids had about 60 minutes total of lessons before this) and now instead of taking home a child who was excited about learning to swim, I had a child who was nervous, scared and maybe didn't want to go back.  That little punk (because it wasn't her teacher who pushed her) better not go near my child this week, or ever again.  I will be talking to the girls swim teacher tomorrow before class.  I paid for the kids to learn how to swim, and if they never want to dive into a pool, I don't see that as a problem.  They don't have to if they aren't comfortable with it.  I don't care if the swim teachers think they have to do this, they have no right to force my children to jump, and much less of a right to push my children into a pool. I am paying them, they work for me.

Between swim lessons, we also managed a trip to the OC Fair.  Did you know you can get in free on Wednesdays, with a donation of a specific item? Last week was 1 new or 3 used children's books.  Of course, I still spent a ridiculous amount of money on food, and I didn't even buy a funnel cake.

This week is going to be a busy one.
Lisa started Apple Camp (she is in the other room right now shooting her footage) and she will make a movie tomorrow.  Today they worked on story boards & music.  They saved their music to these really cool wrist band USB storage things.  And, she has another cool Apple Camp tee.  The sad part? We don't get to see the final movie "on the big screen" at the Apple Store on Saturday morning.

Of course, the reason we don't get to see it is we will be in San Diego, on a little family reunion trip.  My sister is flying down from Far Far Away, and we're driving to SD for the weekend. Shamu, Shamu!
There will also be a trip to the zoo, and possibly a trip to a new education center in OC.
Rest is over-rated, right?

Independence Day

To celebrate Independence Day, I decided to wake up with an eye infection.  Now, when I woke up I had no idea I had an eye infection, I just knew my eyes were hurting.  I didn't really help with the cooking today, although I did manage to go to the store with my mom for a few things we needed (and ice cream).  After we had lunch, we came inside & I turned the tv on for my dad. I looked up and noticed that the words on the screen (our tv needs a light bulb or something to be replaced, but it costs a ridiculous amount of money.  After a few minutes the warning about replacing the part goes off the screen & for now, it's fine) were blurry.  Then I looked outside and realized that the flowers against the fence (which are small) were also blurry.  I put on my glasses (I don't wear them all the time, but it helps with reading things like projectors at church & street signs when I'm driving) and everything was somehow more in focus and still blurry.  My mom sort of insisted I call the doctor, and luckily Kaiser has nurses and the Urgent Care staff working on holidays.  The advice nurse suggested I go in right away, and my mom drove me.
Being a holiday, there was no wait at all.  I had just sat down when I was called back, and seen immediately.  My mom says I "passed" the vision test, but at one point I had to tell the nurse to stop pointing at the letters because I couldn't make them out anymore. That was quite terrifying.
I thought that maybe the eyes had something to do with the allergies that are trying to kill me (okay, they are not so bad) or that maybe I was actually sick.  The doctor said my ears looked fine, and my throat, heart, lungs, etc are fine. So it was just my eyes, which "Are obviously infected. And highly contagious."
She wrote a prescription and sent me off the the 24 hour pharmacy by the emergency room, which is of course in a different building about a block away.
You know what isn't fun? Having to read your name on a glowing board to know your medicine is ready when everything is blurry and you can't really see letters.  I did eventually figure out my name was on the board & got my eye drops.  It just took longer than it should have.
On our way home, my mom bought me Starbucks because poor me.  (I also had my blood sugar checked, and the doctor was slightly annoyed that I had eaten right before going to the doctor, but, um, it's a holiday and we barbecued. Also, it was after 4pm so eating was kind of a given.)
The eye drops sting and maybe possibly they made me cry a little bit. I may or may not have screamed in pain.  I may or may not have scared one or more of my children.
3 hours later and the pain is already better. The blurriness isn't so bad, either.
And 24 hours after using the eyedrops, I should no longer be contagious. That was my one concern, because I have to teach on Sunday (I missed the last 2 weeks taking care of my sick children at home) and Monday is day 1 of 10 days of VBS.  I can't miss that! Thankfully, I won't have to.
So, how was your holiday?

Shorts For Boys

This month I will be sewing up some shorts that will be sent to Cambodia.
You can read more about the project over at Hopeful Threads.
The goal is 100 pairs of shorts (group goal, not my personal goal).  If you sew, you should join in! Bonnie from Fishsticks Designs was awesome enough to make a shorts pattern that you can download for free this month.
I have my pattern all printed, and will try to get some shorts done later today.  I want to finish before the 4th of July, because I know I will be busy for the rest of the month.

Welcome

Welcome to my life!

I'll be sharing some of, well, my life here.  

A little about me: 

I'm a wife, going on 13 years of marriage.   I'm a mom of 3 amazing (and sometimes annoying) kiddos, going on 10 years.  I'm a Sunday School Teacher, serving in the Children's Ministry is a huge blessing and makes me very happy.  I'm a homeschool mom trying to figure out what works best for our family. What works best seems to change all the time, good thing we're flexible, and resilient.  I'm a sister to an amazing young lady, who may or may not have a more exciting life than me (not that we compare!).  I'm a daughter to parents getting ready to move back to their country of origin (Guatemala, C.A.).  I am a coffee addict lover. Coffee fixes everything. Well, no it doesn't, but it does seem to help.  I love God, but I won't be in your face about it.  That is a relationship between Him & me.  I won't hide it, though. 

I have some of the greatest friends in the world, even if they live mostly in my computer.  I'm a Fashion Designer who chose (or did it choose me?) to stay out of the industry and stay home with my kids (at least for now, I'm always open to change).   

If there is anything else you'd like to know about me, feel free to ask.