Be double prepared

Living in earthquake country I try to have an emergency kit together. The nights I've been home alone with the girls I always keep a carrier in my room next to the bed, too, in case I suddenly had to scoop them both up in my arms and get out of the house (I know... there's a line between prepared and paranoid).

It's challenging trying to keep an emergency kit up to date for little ones who are changing so much all the time, but fortunately now they're out of the hard core baby food stage. As long as I have canned goods we're set. Though making sure diapers and clothes are current for them is another thing.

We do have one new item in our emergency kit that's very cool and could even make a great gift for someone in the coming year. It's called a BOGO light and it is a high efficiency LED light that stays recharged via a solar panel on its side. You just leave it in the window and whenever you need it it's good to go for hours. There's a great story behind it, too. The guy who invented them actually created them for families in Africa who had no power. BOGO stands for Buy One, Give One. You get an emergency light, and one is donated to someone who needs one for light every evening.