Just Charming

So Long For Now

2011-08-16T12:47:00.000-10:00

I truly thought I could return to blogging, but life has a different idea in mind. For friends and family close enough to me you know why I must leave blogging behind for now.

This place that I have escaped to for three years has been a great place for me to share happy moments and memories. Now that my life has less to celebrate, I will be leaving this space for now.

Thank you to those who stop by to read. Thank you to those who stop by to share. Thank you for indulging me. I hope to return and share with you all again.

Kathleen

Dusting Off the Cobwebs

2011-06-24T22:24:00.000-10:00

I think my blogging mojo may be returning. Well, I hope it is. I've been so involved with reading other blogs and admiring their craft projects that I've neglected mine and haven't crafted a thing... not a single one!

So, what's the update on my end you ask? Well, Aiden graduated from Preschool! Yaaay! I have him enrolled in a Japanese Summer program at the school where he'll be attending Kindergarten. He seems to really enjoy it, but don't ask him what he learned. He'll just tell you, "I don't know." I do know that he's learned at least three Japanese words so there is some progress :)

Evan is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING! I understand that he's attached to me being there, but I can't go to the bathroom with out him crying in front of the door! He's climbing up the sofa now and it only took one time falling off to learn the proper way to get down. He's picked up a couple of signs. He can sign for milk and finished. Although lately he's been using the sign for "milk" for "want" as in "I want everything." He gets upset at me for not understanding and handing him milk... go figure :) He's trying to talk now, too. He's been trying to say "all gone" but it sounds more like "ah ga." So cute!

Our excitement over hubby's work schedule returning to two weeks on-one week off was short lived. The new captain received another job offer that was too good to pass up. Who could pass up a job working on a yacht taking the rich around the Caribbean? I couldn't argue with that. So, it's back to working those crazy schedules and spending less time at home. It's stressful when he's not home, but it's the nature of the tugboat business. So, I will endure.

I found a new blog that I can't stop looking at! The Modern Cottage Company! Alison does the most amazing work! She takes second hand furniture and makes them Modern Cottage treasures! I want her to teach me how to do it! It was one of my dreams to revamp furniture and give it a second life. She does it so well! I was just reading her latest entry and learned that her husband works on Seattle's Evening Magazine. That is where I did my college internship! I loved it and really wished they had offered me a position, but it wasn't to be. After checking out her husband's segment I looked around the EM site and saw it had a new host... sayonara John Curley. The only person I did recognized was Jim Dever. I just thought it was so interesting how both of my dreams (revamping furniture and working in TV) were represented on her recent post. Well, the tv career was fulfilled working for PBS Hawaii. I just need to work on the other one. After all that was one of my reasons for going back to school to learn carpentry. I don't think the market for second hand furniture is very strong here in Hawaii... I may be wrong, though. If I ever return to Seattle maybe I could work with you, Alison :) Hee Hee Hee.

Well, I have a couple projects that need to be started so I hope to get to them this coming week. I will post pictures. Finger's crossed that they turn out.

Monthly Post

2011-05-11T00:24:00.000-10:00

I haven't completely abandoned this space. I promise.

I do, however, feel like I should at least post a monthly update of some sort.

In my last post over a month ago, I mentioned that I was having a hard time with my oldest son. I hate to use the word "brat," but that is how he was behaving some days. I don't like to yell at my children, but I feel that if I have asked you calmly three times and you still haven't moved your butt in gear then expect to get an earful and at a much higher decibel than before.

Well, thank goodness, we seem to have finally passed that difficult hump and reached a better place in our relationship. We still have our moments, but they are less frequent and he now knows how serious I am.

At some point between my last post and this one a little parallel event occurred. One that happened in my childhood and one that has occurred in his (Aiden). I remember when I was in the second grade and I had my first twenty dollar bill. My father's birthday was coming up and my mother asked if I wanted to chip in on a gift. I really didn't understand money very well and asked if I would get any of my $20 back. Well, the obvious answer was no. In my selfish ways I refused to part with my money and insisted on making a "handmade" birthday gift for my father instead. Well... what could I make at that age but a card? That was it... a card. I was a little embarrassed and ashamed of my behavior and felt terrible when my sister and mother presented him with this large box (a dart board). My mother and sister were kind enough to include my name on the card, but there was no doubt that a BIG FAT lesson was learned that day. Well played Mama, love you!

A few weeks ago, Aiden wanted to spend his Easter money on a toy, but also wanted an Icee. I told him that he didn't have a lot of money, but if he spent it wisely he could have both. So I took him to Walmart to look for a toy. He picked out toys that were beyond his price range and I tried to explain that he didn't have enough money for it. Then I found a toy (some boomerang thingy) and told him he could get that, but that would use all his money. I thought he understood, but when we went to check out I told him he needed to give me what he had and that's when he said he would only give me half as he still wanted the Icee. Well, he cried and cried as I explained he didn't have enough for both and had to pick one. Needless to say the toy stayed behind and the cashier didn't look thrilled and I left the store with a crying five year old. I felt terrible, but somewhere along the way I let him think that money was free flowing in this household and it certainly is NOT.

I do feel like he was a little young to learn that lesson, but I find that greed & selfishness fuels a lot of our arguments.

Easter

There was an Easter egg hunt at Aiden's school and I actually made a craft! What!?! Yup... I actually sat down at night and made these paper mache eggs for all 12 kiddos! I just placed them in their cubbies to pick up as they left the classroom, but none of them could wait to open them.

They aren't as lovely as the one from Not Martha and they were a lot more work than I thought (I almost gave up after the first two), but I pushed myself to finish since I ran out an purchased all the supplies to make them. I'm glad I did because the kids seemed really excited to have these large eggs to open.

The Saturday before Easter we headed up to Gunstock Ranch where they have an Annual Easter Egg Hunt. We had never gone before, but since some of the eggs had cash prizes I thought it might be fun. They had a section where you could pet the animals and for horseback riding. It seemed like a good idea. It wasn't busy when we arrived 15 minutes before the hunt was to start, but man o' man the cars came rushing in the closer it got to 10 a.m.. Since it's a working ranch there was a lot of manure on the ground. Some genius thought it would be funny to put 4 of the yellow eggs (worth a buck each) in a pile of manure in Aiden's age range. Um... gross. Anyway, we didn't get any of those, but I couldn't tell Aiden enough... DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE!

Aiden only found 2 eggs on his own and grandpa found another 2. Unfortunately they were real eggs and couldn't be consumed. At least he got to enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

Evan enjoyed walking around

The petting section was fun although the little lambs looked terrified by all the kids trying to pet them. Aiden looked at them from afar and stayed by the ponies instead. He also decided to skip the horseback riding (thank goodness since the line was very long)

I invited my parents and my father agreed to join us. I don't know if my father knows just how much it means to me that he participates and takes part in events like these. Thanks, Dad. I love you!

Since Aiden and Evan didn't get much of a chance to look for eggs we had a little egg hunt of our own on Easter day. We colored some eggs and enjoyed them in our egg salad sandwiches at lunch time. Then, I scattered eggs around the lawn in front of our place. Aiden and Evan each had a chance to find some goodies.

I see this post is getting rather long... so I'll just say... Evan turned 1 in April. He's walking like a champ! He's sticking way too many things in his mouth! Frightening! He doesn't like to chew his food and would rather swallow things whole... again... scary! He cries after waking up (after a good nights rest, a nice nap... it doesn't matter). He doesn't like you to leave his sight. Cries when I have to go to the bathroom. Doesn't like to be left out during dinner even though he's already eaten... so he snacks in his chair while we dine. He's happy when you are sitting on the floor while he plays around you. Is enjoying Aiden's company much more now that he's upright and mobile. Follows Aiden around (adorable). Is able to fall asleep on his own both at night and during the day. Seems awfully cranky, but only at home. He's lost his baby fat. Seems tall, but is in only the 35 percentile for his age. Much like his brother he has a very large noggin.

Here is one last photo of my boys next to the Boy's Day display.

Ahem...

2011-04-05T22:38:00.000-10:00

I don't know what's come over me, but I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. I don't have a lot going on these days and my husband is back to working his old hours so I don't have a lot of craft time either.

I won't go into great detail, but my five year old and I are going through a very rough time. There is a lot of arguing and it is causing me great stress. Forget the terrible twos, this is MUCH worse! Although I am trying I don't think I am being the best mother to him right now. He knows how to set me off and it seems that we are having an argument daily.

I think my posts will be very limited until I am able to regain my motivation. I'll be taking a blog break of sorts.

In the meantime, get ready for picture overload and as I update you since my last post.

We had Spring Break a couple weeks back. I tried to plan something almost every day for Aiden to keep him busy. We went bowling. We had park play dates. We went to the beach. We even went to the movies (Mars Needs Moms) and hiking with some of his classmates. I'm really finding that getting Aiden in preschool was the best thing for both him and I!

Kawai Nui Marsh, Kailua, Oahu

Cattails in Hawaii... who knew?

I think he learned this "turned up collar" from oba-chan.

My sister invited us to the Bishop Museum where they have the new "Dinosaurs Unearthed: Feathered Discoveries" exhibit on the 27th. The kids loved it!

Animatronic Dinosaurs are so cool!

Today we had a school field trip to Waimea Falls. I hadn't been there since I was a child myself, so it was good to revisit. Aiden and his classmates learned about taking care of the land (Malama Aina)...how to make natural pest repellent; the role worms play in agriculture; planting a garden. We all hiked up to the waterfall afterwards.

Listening to our guide, Kekai.

This guy was kind enough to sleep almost the entire time. Unfortunately it wasn't in the stroller, rather strapped to my chest. He's 23-24 pounds and it's not easy to walk let alone hike and push a stroller!

This peacock was beautiful, but aggressive. The children missed a little mating action by just a few seconds... thankfully :)

My dear friends, the Culvers, sent Aiden the Lego City Wind Turbine Transport set for his birthday (they work on a wind farm in California). I've been meaning to take hip up to North Shore so I could take pictures of him with his wind turbine and the actual wind farm in the background. Today was the best time to do it since we were already up there for the field trip.

So, here is where I say, "I'll see you later." Most of my readers are family and we connect via Facebook, but for my other blog friends I promise to return with a better spirit and attitude. It just needs a little adjusting I think ;P

Honest Opinion

2011-03-18T22:05:00.000-10:00

What do you think of the above item?

I have seen several craft auctions created to raise money for donations to various organizations aiding in Japan's recovery. I was thinking of putting an item like the one above up in one, but I'm not sure if anyone would bid on it. I am also planning to donate my usual handmade items, but thought this might be an opportunity to try something new.

Can I have your honest opinion?

Tsunami

2011-03-15T00:18:00.000-10:00

I'm sure I'm not alone here. Have you been glued to the tv? Watching coverage of the devastation that has ravaged Japan? I can't stop watching.

I mentioned in the past that I spent about 7-8 years of my childhood there. My mother is Japanese. I have a strong connection to the country and I love it so much. It's such a beautiful place and the people are friendly and polite. It's truly special.

I was watching something Thursday night and wasn't paying much attention to the crawl at the bottom of the screen. I caught the tail end of what looked like "tsunami" and turn to my husband and said, "what did it say?" He said, "You weren't reading it!?! There was an earthquake off of Japan and it generated a tsunami." WHAT!?! flip... flip... change... change... where's the news!?! Not only was I worried about the wave that was consuming the coast of Sendai, but I had to be concerned about the tsunami that was heading our way!

My husband is a tugboat captain and so he is required by the company to take the tugboat out to sea during such threats. I have some negative feelings about this, but will keep them to myself. So, since he was scheduled for an early morning job he headed to the boat to catch some shut eye, but was told to tow another tug out to sea... like... NOW! So off he went. Meanwhile, we have friends who live rather close to the ocean so I called them up and asked if they wanted to come stay with the kids and I. I live in the middle of the island and at a higher elevation. They joined me for the evening and left early in the morning. I gave them the bed and stayed up as long as I could watching the news in the living room. The emergency sirens were going off hourly and luckily Aiden slept through every single one of them, but Evan kept waking up until he was too tired to bother with the final two. I awoke to my friends standing in the living room about 4:30a.m. watching the news as I had left it on all night. It looked like we were extremely lucky on our island, but some of the neighbor islands had some structural damage.

I hate to admit that we were not prepared. I filled a 2 gal. beverage cooler with water and hoped that that would be enough... but really.... it wouldn't have lasted very long. I see on the news these poor citizens of Japan standing in line outside the super market told they could only purchase 10 items and think to myself, "why do they have to PAY for food!?!" They've lost everything and that damn store still wants their money! UGH! They are running out of water, food, and gas. There is a growing threat of a nuclear explosion. What are these people still doing there! Buses should be loaded and these people should be moved! 12 miles? Is that really far enough should something happen? REALLY? I feel sad for them... then I feel angry about their situation... then it comes back to... I really need to be more prepared!

I just read that Melaleuca (a company that I purchase products from) will donate $2 for every $1 I donate. I haven't seen another offer like this, so I think I will donate through them to get the most bang for the dollar.

I know that there was great discussion during the Haiti quake that celebrities were using their star power to raise money for another country while the homeless population in the US continues to grow and suffer. I'm sure that there will be similar discussion during this crisis, but I hope that if this thought crosses your mind that you will remember that we are all human. Just because we are of different ethnicity/nationalities does not make them less deserving of our aide. If you can help... if you can donate... please do. I beg you!

I do want to close by reporting that our family and friends in Japan are okay. Though there is limited communication between us and them, we were able to connect. Thank you modern technology!

Monthly Update... Waimea... Dole Plantation

2011-03-07T21:55:00.000-10:00

A few weeks ago I attempted to take the boys to Waimea Falls, but had to turn around because we started late in the day and the traffic to North Shore was really bad. To reduce the risk of having a screaming five year old, I told my son that we'd turn around and go have ice cream at the pineapple place (aka Dole Plantation). That went over really well and he was happy to skip the falls.

When we got there he said he wasn't hungry yet and that he wanted to look at the pineapples, but what he was really doing was heading for the big fish pond in the back. I didn't have any quarters on hand to get fish food, but he was happy to walk me ALL the way back to the car to get some. So we did. The Koi pond is quite big, but there is only one section of the pond where you can feed them. This presents a big problem as the fish all gather toward this one section and fight for food. They fight so much that some are being pushed out of the water... it's gross! I tried to get him to throw the food out further, but well he just can't throw that far.

Someone should redesign this pond.

After we worked our way back to the gift shop we stood in line for some Dole Whip. I hate to complain, but these places just don't take into consideration that people might be pushing strollers around.... anyway... we finally worked out way up to the counter, got our Dole Whip and headed outside to enjoy it. Well... enjoy it as much as we could with this lovely thing following us around.

Aiden thought she wanted his ice cream, but I didn't think so.

I think she wanted something a little more at her eye level... something in the stroller...

Evan's puffs!

I had to throw a couple off to the side to distract her. I told Aiden that we needed to move, but she just followed us around. To our luck other patrons wanted to take pictures of it and with it so she went on her way.

Your ice cream's safe, Buddy!

Luck

2011-02-24T09:10:00.000-10:00

My Luck has been pretty poor lately. It started off small with a broken purse strap while taking Aiden to mini golf a couple weeks back. Then our neighbor stopped by the other day to give me a credit card that I dropped. I realized that the last time I had used it was the day before so I thought it had been sitting there for a full day (turns out he probably picked it up right after I dropped it and returned it the next he saw I was home)! I called to have that card cancelled and a new card sent out. There was also a REALLY BIG-BAD incident, but I'm too embarrassed to talk about it on such a public space.

I was hoping that that would be the end of my string of bad luck, but no...

Yesterday I went to a baby shower. I was taking devilled eggs... yum. I also wanted to make Sunny Anderson's pizza bites, but ran out of time and couldn't assemble them even after baking the puff pastry and roasting the tomatoes... but I'll get back to this...

I planned ahead and asked my mother to borrow her egg tray Tupperware. I boiled a dozen eggs made the devilled eggs and packed up the kids and headed out the door. When I got to the party some of the eggs had flipped over, were on top of the others, and the paprika looked terrible (note to self... take paprika with you and sprinkle later!). I was embarrassed, but the gals still ate them. I brought the Tupperware home thinking it was empty and when I went to take it out of the bag I was toting them around in I dropped what was inside all over my carpet! YUCK! I had just shampooed my carpet the other day, too! Ugh!

How long will this bad luck last for!?!

Back to those pizza bites! Since I couldn't finish making the pizza bites for the party I decided to finish them off and have some for dinner. I just have to say, that that was one of the things that worked out in my favor! They tasted like mini Pizza Margheritas.... YUM. Maybe my luck is finally changing!

Celebrating Five Years! Ultimate Star Wars Party!

2011-02-16T21:53:00.002-10:00

Time is just flying by isn't it? I mean, it seems like we were just celebrating Christmas and New Years and then just yesterday was Valentine's Day! My goodness!

Not a lot has happened since my last post... just one major event! We celebrated Aiden's fifth birthday. Five... how did that happen? Later this year he'll be starting Kindergarten! My goodness!

He really wanted a Star Wars birthday party. So, I did a little research and came across several blogs with great information and ideas.

I got the lightsaber information from At Second Street . I also got the invite wording from her link to Klark World.

Initially I wanted to make all the kids robes, but then reality set in and I was quickly running out of time. So, since it was "Jedi Training Camp"... We made camp shirts.

Our living room looked like a sweatshop!

Then we wanted to have all the children make their own lightsabers so we prepped them. We bought one ten foot length of 1" PVC piping ($2.99) and cut them 6" long. We purchased 1/2" pipe insulation

(we needed 7 [insulation is 6' and we cut them down to 2' increments] and they were $1.69 each).

cut a two inch sliver out so that it could fit into PVC pipe

Used silver duct tape to tape up the lightsaber handle and about an inch of the insulation

We needed to make 20 lightsabers. We were going to use electrical tape like At Second Street suggested, but electrical tape is crazy expensive! And since most of the children were 5 and under we thought that would be way to much work for them and their parents. So, I found very colorful duct tape at Walmart for $3 something.

Three strips of tape would cover the length of the lightsaber perfecting. Cheaper and more colorful... worked for us.

I had hubby train the young Padewans. We bought a giga ball and they whaled on that for a little bit...

each had a turn inside... and then had to hit ping pong balls with the lightsabers

The parents were troupers as they had to help out with some of the activities.

Aiden really wanted a cake and I wanted to get him one, but the Tuesday before his party he ran a 103 degree fever and I didn't want to have this cake on hand if we had to cancel the party. The weather was also looking pretty iffy, so to be safe I planned to make cupcakes instead. My sister purchased the cupcake wrappers and toppers from Williams-Sonoma

and since I needed to make a batch of Vegan cupcakes for a young lady with egg allergies I printed off these cupcake toppers

from Skip to My Lou. The day was hot and the frosting started to ooze and slide off the cupcakes.

After Aiden blew out his candle Eric slipped away to change into his mock Darth Vader get-up. The kids were finishing up and quickly grabbed their lightsabers and went to defend Aiden's birthday party!

They had so much fun attacking poor Darth Vader. Eric said some of those girls really could swing those lightsabers!

The Party Favors were the shirts, lightsabers, a Certificate of Completion (photoshopped Aiden's name in place of Jessica G's son) and a Star Wars cookie (cookie cutters available at Williams-Sonoma).

Everyone had a great time and Aiden is still talking about it. He told me the day after that it was the, "best birthday EVER!" That made me feel great. I was really thankful to all the parents of his preschool classmates. He really wanted his buddies there and I was so glad they could make it.

My one regret was not getting a group picture.... shucks!

Free Valentine's Printable

2011-01-27T23:54:00.004-10:00

Just click on image above and save to desktop. Print, Frame, Gift.... enjoy!

Time Sure Does Fly....

2011-01-22T19:56:00.009-10:00

I keep disappearing. Sorry.

I've been a little preoccupied with business, family and fun!

Today, I turned 35! Yup! I'm excited about it, too. I mean, don't get me wrong, 34 was an awesome year! I had my second son, my first born started preschool, and I continued my crafting journey. And to top it all off, I got to enjoy every minute of it with the most amazing hubby a gal could ask for! But, 35... now what can this year possibly have in store for me? Hmmm... I don't know, but I'm excited to find out!

We went out for a birthday lunch!

Big Uncle's Combo... don't worry I shared with Aiden :)

Live music

Date #1
He was antsy and couldn't sit still.

Date #2
He was a flirt. He kept eyeing that gal behind him. The ladies can't resist that HAIR!

Date #3
Easy on the eyes. A gentleman.

It was the perfect date!

Okay now for
The past weeks events:

Aiden had pajama day at school this week. It all seemed a little weird for me (the new teacher didn't even participate), but he was excited about it.

This guy is doing this now! He's still figuring out how to get back down, but mostly just screams for us to release his grasp only to climb back up again.

I was busy making Vegan Cupcakes for a party for Aiden's outgoing teacher and this is what I found in the living room. Funny.

Aiden wanted an airplane so I put one together with a couple of boxes and a Frisbee.

And the Frisbee turns into the tray table for snackage... yum!

Yesterday we all hiked up to Makapuu lighthouse. Here are some shots from our day.

It was a beatiful day!

Aiden couldn't sit still long enough for us to look out for whales, but I guess that's to be expected.

Well, I'm off to finish my birthday watching a movie, eating cupcakes, and sipping on a mojito. Ahhh... a good time!

Family Photo Shoot

2011-01-07T22:14:00.004-10:00

As we all know the internet is flooded with amazing photographers. People with great artistic skill and rightly charge what they deserve for their time and talent. Many of us drool over their photos and dream that one day we, too, can have photos like those.

Well, we can't afford a professional photographer, but we do have access to a great camera.

Great camera + automatic timer = good chance of getting a good family photo.

The photo in my last post was the best of like 10 family shots that I took. The kids were getting squirmy toward the end. Aiden wanted to go swim and Evan... well... he needed a diaper change.

I was able to get several other good shots that I wanted to share.

Thank goodness for digital photography. You no longer have to develop terrible photos and you can pick and choose the best of the bunch!

On the day of the shoot I went to Best Buy to buy a remote for the camera so that I could take the photo after we were all posed, but they didn't carry it. So, with the 10 second timer I had to run from the camera to my spot. It still worked out okay, but I would highly recommend a remote for something like this.

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T14:38:00.002-10:00

Our first family portrait!

As we close the chapter on 2010, we look forward to what 2011 will reveal.

Hello again,

2010-12-27T21:21:00.008-10:00

I know I disappeared. Sorry. I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post. I got really busy prepping for the craft fair and then it was all about family. I'm sure you all understand and know how hectic it gets around Christmas time.

First, my craft fair was a success. The weather was really poor leading up to the day of the fair, but come fair day it was nothing but blue skies and warm breezes. My hubby was home to watch the kiddos and my sister was kind enough to help me out once again. I stayed up all night the day before getting things ready and amazingly was able to stay awake the entire day and felt pretty good. As soon as I came home and sat on the sofa... well... that was another story. I passed out for a good hour as soon as I started to relax and hubby had to leave for a neighbor island trip that evening. Needless to say the kids were fed, showered and in bed early that night. I was out!

Since then though we have just been spending a lot of quality time with family and friends. We have been...

Playing in the rain. There has been lots of that these passed few weeks!

Bowling with our friends, Mrs. Beth and Marcel

And again today... bowling with Daddy!

Riding the Christmas Train with Marcel

Acting goofy!

Enjoying some cinnamon sugared pretzel bites

Attending the school's Christmas Party (here with his teacher Mrs. Kimberley)

Visiting with Santa at the school's party

And again at a near by shopping center

Opening presents on Christmas day

Unwrapping and some nibbling of wrapping paper

Smiling and repeatedly saying, "It's what I've always wanted!"

Some more smiling and nibbling

(Me: What do you want to ask Santa to bring you? Aiden: I want two light sabers with the handle in the middle. Me: Um... Okay)

Genuine excitement over gifts!

It's been a good few weeks!

Crafting For Myself

2010-12-04T18:50:00.004-10:00

This coming week, I'll be busy crafting for the fair on Saturday. If you're visiting the Salt Lake area (not Utah, but Oahu), I'll be at Moanalua High School's craft fair... booth #149.

Today, I made a little craft for myself. My kids are coughing and have runny noses and we've been pretty much cooped up in the house for most of the week. I needed a little craft therapy! So, I made a little something for the holidays.

I purchased this wreath form for $3 and the yarn for $2. I'm really drawn to this color red. It's all over my Christmas tree. Anyhow, I tied one end to the form and started wrapping until it was completely covered in red yarn.

I used a little piece of felt and two colors of buttons

To make the holly. I hot glued them onto the wreath and...

hung it up in the living room with some ribbon I had.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Tropical Farms

2010-12-03T19:58:00.007-10:00

Yesterday Aiden had a field trip with his preschool. We went to Tropical Farms a macadamia nut farm. Although I've passed by this place many a times, I myself had never been there. Boy, was I missing out!
Although this is a farm, the tour had little to do with farming macadamia nuts. I don't know if they just thought this wasn't very interesting....

Here's Aiden with his buddy. They are fascinated with this...

A hen and her chicks. There were many a rooster and the kids couldn't have been more thrilled!

We boarded a rickety ol' bus and headed down by the water where a little stage was set up. This gentleman above was hilarious! He demonstrated some Hawaiian traditions with a lot of humor in the mix. Here he is demonstrating his conch shell blowing skills.

How they made fire.

Fire Dancing

Amazing!

This guy was the "fire department" and he came to extinguish the fire.

They made these little palm frond headbands for all of us!

Then we went on a little boat ride onto the largest fishing pond in the Hawaiian Islands. Here's Aiden with our guide in front of the Koolau Mountain Range.

After the boat ride we boarded the bus again. We drove around the property where they showed us where they film parts of 50 First Dates, Lost, and the new series Off The Map. I get all goofy when it comes to films or television shows. I asked if I could take a picture of the set. It's suppose to be Guatemala. I was probably the only mom who was excited about this!

I thought this place was a lot of fun. The children enjoyed themselves. We sampled a variety of macadamia nuts (roasted, salted, sugared, etc.) and I also enjoyed a free sample of macadamia nut coffee.... yum! If you come and visit - I can highly recommend a stop at Tropical Farms.

So Much Talent

2010-12-03T07:25:00.005-10:00

Every year around this time I proclaim my love for crafters on the Internet! There is so much unbelievable talent out there! AND everyone seems so generous around the holidays, too. Many crafters offer their creations/ideas to folks for FREE!

Here's an example. Amy Locurto creator of Living Locurto offers free printables and I stayed up passed midnight last night making a version of this. Yes, I was three days late, but on 12/1 we did buy a Christmas Book and on 12/2 he had hot cocoa with marshmallows... so I put those down for those days.

I didn't have any holiday scrapbooking paper, so I had to use what I had on hand. I also ran out of card stock, so I didn't print out the surprise slips and instead opted to write on the back of the date circles what surprise Aiden has in store for each day.

As you can also see I didn't layout the circles before I started gluing. I ran out of room at the end.. oops. My brain wasn't functioning properly at midnight I guess.

And this...this was an idea that I saw online. A Letter to Santa kit was available for purchase, but since I'm on a budget I did my darnedest to make one myself. I feel a little guilty for borrowing this idea, but since I'm just showing you my end result and not the process I'm feeling okay about sharing the pictures. So, using my amateur photoshop skills I made this for Aiden. It isn't as lovely as the one offered through Make It and Love It, but I don't think Aiden noticed.

Hope Santa can help with that wish list... it was a doozy!

22 Days Left!

Deck The Halls

2010-12-01T08:46:00.003-10:00

We started decorating for the holidays. I put our tree up and a few hours later two strands of lights went out. Our tree is artificial and the lights are prestrung. I ran out to Walmart to purchase a strand, but they were ALL OUT of the long ones! I ended up with 3 boxes of mini-strands that only had 20 bulbs on them. Oh well... Ho Ho Ho and all that jazz!

Toothy Smile

2010-12-01T08:41:00.002-10:00

He's got three and a fourth on it's way!

Thankful

2010-11-23T21:24:00.003-10:00

Today was Aiden's Thanksgiving Party at preschool. These kids worked so hard to remember songs, make decorations, and prepare a dessert for the parents. I can't express how much I love this school! I am so thankful to have found it. I love that they plan events that include the parents. It brings me so much joy watching my lil' guy grow up!

Kids lining up to sing their Thanksgiving Day songs. They were suppose to wear something brown, but tan/khaki were all we had.

Aiden made this cute place mat with cutouts of all our hands. They're suppose to be turkey feathers. The centerpieces are the turkeys made with paper bags and the cones are suppose to be cornucopias.

We borrowed Aiden's headdress for a quick photo op.

Pardon the poor video quality. I brought my camera, but I forgot the disk. I had to use my cell phone instead.

Hello Mr. Turkey

Thanksgiving

(Sorry, they started before I could switch from photo to video)

Can't Resist

2010-11-22T22:49:00.003-10:00

His chubby-ness! His goofy-ness!

All his wonderfulness!

I ♥ Online Mags

2010-11-22T21:50:00.003-10:00

They are popping up all over the place! I have enough magazine subscriptions to annoy my husband, but now... NOW... I can view online magazines for FREE! Yaaaaay for me! And You!

Here are a couple of holiday appropriate mags currently circulating the www!



Holiday 2010

Below is a mag in Spanish. I couldn't read it, but I loved looking at the pictures and all the wonderful crafts. How could you not want to flip through the pages of a magazine with that cover on it!?! Can't stand how lovely it is!

Open publication - Free publishing - More children books

I'm really itching to start decorating for Christmas! Hmpff.... I suppose I can wait a few more days!

Before I forget... go check out my friend Christy's blog Sweet Tidings. She has a 12 Days of Christmas (Holiday craft and recipes) craft-along going on. She's super crafty and I just love her style!

Enjoy!

Sushi Night

2010-11-22T21:21:00.003-10:00

The other day Aiden wanted sushi. Since I didn't know what to have for dinner that night, I took his suggestion and took a stab at making sushi. I made a couple of Aiden's favorites...Cone sushi (Inari sushi) & Tamagoyaki. I made some other varieties for Eric and myself to enjoy. Of course we enjoyed our sushi with some miso soup another favorite of our little guy's. I think it's so great that Aiden enjoys Japanese cuisine. I hope he continues to be adventurous when it comes to trying ethnic foods.

Hanahaouli Fair = Arabian Pony Rides

2010-11-13T19:18:00.003-10:00

Today was a busy day. Aiden had gymnastics at 9 a.m., off to the Hanahaouli School Fair for pony rides and games at 10:30 a.m., then off to a classmates birthday party at 1:30 p.m.! We finally got home at around 4:30 p.m. and I was completely exhausted! How is it that the kids were still full of energy?

A New Love In My Life

2010-11-13T19:04:00.003-10:00

Meet Mr. Bosch

Eric decided it was high time to get a dishwasher. As you can clearly see I didn't argue with him. Now I know what I've been missing! It's so nice to rinse dishes and stick them in a machine to be washed. I don't have to do dishes at 10 p.m. any longer. I ♥ Bosch

Fried Green Tomatoes Redux (This One's For You Nina Patricia)

2010-11-11T20:54:00.005-10:00

I went to the KCC Farmer's Market this past weekend and enjoyed my usual Fried Green Tomatoes. I always have sticker shock when I go there, but I swallow my pride and cough up the $7 to enjoy this wonderful treat. Can you imagine spending $7 on 3 slices of tomatoes? Hmmm... I have to find another way. If I want to enjoy this treat I'll just have to make it myself! I always pass the tomato bin at the market hoping to find a green tomato. I often ask the veggie dude if they have any in the back and always get the answer, "no." Today was my lucky day. I didn't find just one, but I found TWO! Woop! Woop! So, Fried Green Tomatoes is what I had for dinner.

I only ate one tomato tonight. Will save the other for another day... maybe tomorrow :)

Recipe:

One Green Tomato

One egg beaten with One Tbsp of flour

Bread Crumbs (I used Progresso Italian Style)

Vegetable Oil for frying

Coat the tomato in the egg/flour mix then dredge with bread crumbs. After they are coated I let them sit for a few minutes so the coating will bond with the tomatoes.

Then fry them up until golden brown

I had mine with a salad and this wonderful creamy basil sauce.

Since I only needed a little, I used less mayo and added some sour cream. It was yummy!

Enjoy!

Sea Turtles

2010-11-06T12:18:00.003-10:00

Sapphire & Olivia-Dawn

Both roughly 30-40 years old and about 250 lbs.

While my friends were visiting the other week we came across a few sea turtles sunbathing.

I would have completely missed them, but my friends pulled their car over and I followed them. I'm sure glad someone was paying attention or else I would have missed out on something wonderful!

A third turtle made its way out of the water while we were there.

They are magnificent creatures aren't they?

They are endangered and there is a wonderful organization, Malama na Honu, that makes sure that they are protected when they surface. Keeping people roughly 6 feet way from them for their safety.

It was an amazing event to witness and I feel very lucky to have had this experience.

Can You Believe...

2010-11-03T14:00:00.004-10:00

That Christmas is around the corner? I can't! I have a craft fair looming over me and I am no where NEAR prepared for it! The days keep passing by and I keep telling myself if I do a little prep today in a couple of weeks I can sit down and sew! Have I done any prep? Nope. Will I? I hope so.

Well, to get you in the holiday spirit... I know.. I know... Thanksgiving is next, but... here are a few online magazines for you to enjoy.

Inspire Co.

Gifted Magazine

Joie

I wish I had the time to make so much of what is available in the world of crafts! Luckily these magazines offer a lot of free printables and great gift ideas to make gift giving extra special!

Enjoy

Lots Goin' On

2010-11-01T10:30:00.004-10:00

There has been a lot going on over here this past week.

My dearest childhood friend and her family came to Hawaii for a wedding. She allowed me to tag along and visit with them a few times while they were here. I harassed them to take their family photo, but I didn't have to twist their arm too much.

We stopped by the famous Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

For a little taste. I thought it was "o.k." I prefer going to Romy's, but it was still worth giving it a try.

This fine fella turned 39 last week! He's such a great husband and wonderful father. I couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime!

We celebrated by going to Ruby Tuesdays to enjoy a little Steak & Lobster Mac-n-Cheese. Yum!

Aiden had his Halloween parade at school! They were all so cute! Here he is with a couple of his classroom buddies!

He just loves Halloween!

Here are the kids Halloween night with my folks. Aiden got two costumes this year... Indiana Jones for school & Batman for Halloween night. We had to cut the Trick-or-Treating a little short as my Lil' Octopus was crying and screaming from all the chaos!

We came across a couple who go ALL OUT on Halloween Night! As you can see they were dressed as the Mad Hatter & Queen of Hearts.

And their lawn was decked out in the most creative way!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween and a great week!

Boo!

2010-10-24T20:12:00.002-10:00

My little octopus

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2010-10-24T08:02:00.007-10:00

Well, it's that time of year when things start to pick up a little. In August you start to notice the stores are stocking their Halloween candy, then all of a sudden it's October and Halloween is right around the corner and then you find it's December and Christmas! Is it just me or does it seem like that for everyone? The last few months of the year are lived at lightening speed!

Last week we joined some friends and went to the Aloun Farms pumpkin patch. We called ourselves "homeschooling moms" and got to go during the week as a group.

This farm is located in Ewa Plains and it gets crazy hot there!

This lil' guy was a trooper! He didn't even cry once!

Malia, Aiden, Aidan, Niel, & Menden

I, of course, forgot our water in the car so I kept hearing, "I'm thirsty! I'm thirsty!" I was rushed to grab a pumpkin and head out. I got home to find I picked a rotting pumpkin. Yuck! Well, it's in the garbage now.

On another day we all went to check out the "Spooky Forest" at Wahiawa Botanical Gardens.

Aidan, Aiden, & Niel

Not very spooky. Just perfect for these lil' guys.

These were a fun read

Some wonderful sites to see

The kids really had a good time. I was pushing a stroller (not recommended).

Don't forget to look up or you might be missing out on something magnificent!

Everyone loves a bridge!

I wasn't even aware that there was a botanical garden in Wahiawa. It is a wonderful gem! The path is paved and the bathrooms are super clean. There are mosquitos and just beware there are A LOT of red ants. As long as you don't stand in one place for too long you'll be okay... and don't hold on to the railings. Just keep your hands to yourselves and enjoy the view!

Halloween Costume

2010-10-15T19:07:00.004-10:00

Have you started thinking about what your child(ren) will be for Halloween? Well, I have. Not your child(ren), but my own.

At first we were looking for Indiana Jones gear, but we didn't have a whole lot of luck. The costume itself cost $40 and who wants to wear a costume that says, "Indiana Jones" on it? So, we settled on a store bought Batman costume.

It just dawned on me the other day that lil' man has a Halloween parade at school. The thought of him walking around the neighborhood wearing black leotards and a black mask didn't sit well with me... so once again we were looking for Indiana Jones gear.

Brown Fedora Hat (Price Busters) $5

Khaki Pants (Goodwill) $2

Vinyl for Satchel & Whip $2

White Shirt (his closet)

Rope (Lowes) $2.50

Now for the baby...

Everybody's Gone Surfing

2010-10-10T19:06:00.005-10:00

Today Aiden went to a free surf clinic. The day was perfect. Not too hot and just the right amount of cloud coverage. The clinic teaches children about surfboard making, surfing, paddle boarding, canoeing and about keeping the ocean clean. It's designed to get children interested in these sports and feeling comfortable in the ocean.

This is Aiden with his instructor

Paddle Board

Getting ready to stand

Woo Hoo!

High Five!

Safety first before getting into the canoe

Here the kids are learning about the archipelago and about the effects of pollution on ocean life.

The wonderful organization Na Kama Kai holds these surf clinics every month for FREE! They even gave the kids free Jamba Juice at the end... can you believe it!?! We had to donate something, because it was just unbelievable! Aiden had a blast!

My Boys

2010-10-08T21:42:00.002-10:00

Love them so much!

Martha's Potato Leek Soup

2010-10-08T20:51:00.003-10:00

I was watching today's repeat episode of yesterday's Martha Stewart Living and she made Potato Leek Soup. I haven't had that soup since CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) stopped making it. Oh how I loved that soup!

Anyway, I thought I'd give it a try.

Sure glad I did.

yum!

Picnic

2010-10-03T20:56:00.007-10:00

On Wednesday I took Aiden and Evan and joined my friend, Kimberley, and her son, Justin, for a picnic. We tried a week earlier, but it rained and rained that day... so we met up last week instead. I suggested we go to Moanalua Gardens. I thought I had been there once before in my younger years, but this visit didn't make the place seem familiar at all.

This monkey pod tree is very popular with Japanese tourists. Loads of them visit the garden just to take pictures of it. I was actually asked if I could take a picture of a couple standing in front of it.

This is the taro patch in front of the cottage. What a dreamy cottage it is. I don't know what it is used for, but I could endlessly daydream about living there.

I picked up a couple of plate lunches and brownies from Zippy's and she brought the drinks. We spread out the blanket and sat down for a nice afternoon.

These Koa seats/benches are all over the park.

Kimberley took this photo of us in front of Chinese Hall. That's Justin mesmerized by the koi in the pond to the left.

She kindly took this photo of me and Evan, too.

Aiden is so good about letting me take pictures of him. I know soon he'll be rolling his eyes at me when I ask to take his pictures... but for now say, "cheese," honey.

Field Trip

2010-09-30T08:49:00.007-10:00

(This photo was taken by my father)

On Tuesday Aiden went on his very first field trip. A visit to the Waipahu Fire Station.

The kids wore their school shirts and seemed very excited to be there. They sat and listened to the firemen very well and just loved all the fire trucks!

The firemen discussed the usual fire safety rules such as calling 911 (which I realize would be difficult for Aiden as we don't have a land line any longer. Hmm... may need to think that one over again), Stop, Drop & Roll, crawling under the smoke, not hiding in closets or under beds if they're trapped and not playing with lighters or matches.

(This photo taken by my father)

And they even came down the poll! Woo Hoo!

Well, this one didn't but I had him act like he did.

I asked my father to join us. I remember my grandmother going on fieldtrips with me when I was little and those are some cherished memories. I thought this would be a good thing for both of them!

Yard Sale Finds

2010-09-30T08:07:00.003-10:00

The neighborhood where Aiden's preschool is located had a community wide yard sale last Saturday. I don't normally go yard sale-ing but my friend Jenn goes regularly and she found a bike for her daughter for $5! I just had to try to find a bike for Aiden for a good price, too! I was determined! We drove around and the first place we stopped at had this...

I know... what do I need that for right? Well, I plan on painting it white and hanging my quilts on it (like this). I got the idea from here and just like her I got it for $2!

A little more driving around and we saw a lady with three bikes out. She was hosing them down so we thought maybe she was just washing them, but it turned out that they were indeed for sale. There was a guy there already and he was loading them up in his truck, but he left one behind! The one perfect for Aiden! His new "used" bike! For only $15!!

It was a good shopping day after all.

Pork Chops & Sweet Potato Fries

2010-09-22T21:11:00.002-10:00

Thought I'd try something different tonight. I made pork chops (just salt & peppered) and oven-baked sweet potato fries with Emeril's sour cream dip. Um... yum!

So Funny

2010-09-20T17:11:00.002-10:00

Laughing

2010-09-20T17:07:00.003-10:00

Craving

2010-09-12T11:33:00.003-10:00

Some Fried Green Tomatoes!

Children's Discovery Center - Part 2

2010-09-12T10:53:00.004-10:00

Well, we finally made it back to the CDC. This time with our friends, Mrs. Steffey, and her son, Justin.

As I mentioned before the downstairs houses the two exhibits where the children learn about their bodies and about the places around town (Courthouse, Post Office, Bank, Market, Fire Station, etc. ).

Eye Exam

Bank

Market

Auto Shop

What we missed out on the last time was upstairs where you learn some special things about Hawaii and then other cultures (Japan, China, Korea, Philippines, Portugal, etc.)

Ships & Cargo Loading

Philippines

China

Aiden had a great time. After an hour and half of carrying my baby I was ready to head out and get some lunch.

Off to Uncle's!

This was my first time to Uncle's. We arrived there just before 11 which was the right time, because soon after we placed out order the line was CRAZY long! This place is popular and the food was delicious! Mrs. Steffey was right! I'd go there every day if I could afford it :)

This isn't the fish they serve, but it is the fish visible from the pier.

Cuban Food

2010-09-08T10:07:00.007-10:00

There is this great Cuban restaurant in town called Soul de Cuba. It's in the middle of downtown and quite popular. If you don't make a reservation you may have a hard time getting in. So, call ahead.

I was looking through the new issue of Everyday Food and came across a recipe for roasted pork with onions and citrus, as well as Cuban red beans and rice. Since going out with two kids isn't easy I decided to make this Cuban recipe at home. They call it Eat Out (At Home). I can't find the recipe online... I wonder if that's because it's the current issue. Hmmm... anyway... here's the photo.

It was quite tasty, but I did goof. You are suppose to cook it for 30 minutes in the oven then take it out to baste and return it to the oven after reducing the temp. I forgot to reduce the temp. which burnt the sauce that was suppose to go with it. It was good sans sauce, but it probably would have been outstanding with the sauce!

I'll try to remember to post the recipe if I find it.

Umm... Pardon the Dust...

2010-09-02T23:16:00.002-10:00

I'm so sorry to have abandon the blog for so long.

My baby is waking up at all hours in the night. I'm not sure if it's due to hunger or gas. Some nights he'd wake up two hours after feeding screaming and all red in the face. I figure it's from gas and try to calm him down. Unable to I check to see if he's hungry and sure enough he'll nurse and then go back to sleep. I'm so confused!?! His doctor said it was okay to start him on rice cereal so we gave that a go, but then he showed great discomfort with his BMs that I figured it best we wait another month or so.

I'm still wondering if my diet is playing a role in all this. I mentioned I was drinking Lactaid, but then I went back to drinking regular milk. It all seemed to be going okay, but now he's gassy again. A friend recommended going on a rice and chicken diet for a week and working gluten, dairy, and other allergy related foods back into my diet to see which ones affect him. I tried... but it's hard to just eat rice and chicken! Must try harder! I must admit that I'm a stress eater. With a screwy sleep schedule, a "typical" four year old, and single parent days... I'm feeling stress a lot these days. Does everyone argue this much with their four year old? Hmm... I wonder.

Other sad news to report. We had to say, "goodbye" to our dear cat, Squeek. For almost a month she would get sick after eating (no matter how little she'd eat). The Vet thought she might have hypothyroidism, but the blood results did not indicate that that is in fact what she had. So with the symptoms we described he guessed that that is what she had and prescribed her medication. Needless to say, the medication did not help and she continued to get sick everyday. Since she was eating so little she obviously started to loose a lot of weight. I took her back to the vet and they taught me how to force feed her. I tried, but it's not easy to force feed a cat by yourself. Having another person hold the cat (like it was done in the office) is pretty essential. Anyhow, I had to make the hardest decision ever! I could not watch her suffer like that any longer and we said our farewell to our 17 year old friend. We will miss her a lot!

So.. as the dust settles around us we will try to return to life as usual.

Box Cars

2010-08-20T19:29:00.006-10:00

Today was a Hawaii State holiday so my friend, Beth, and her son, Marcel, had the day off. Since Marcel is now in Kindergarten Aiden doesn't get much time to play with him. We took this opportunity to get the kids together for some fun in the sun. Off to the Box Car Track!

This place is great! Since Aiden is 4 he was free! Plus, you can go as many times around as you can stand standing in line for (we must have gone 5 or 6 times). I've never been on a box car before and got nervous just listening to the instructions. The track starts off on a hill and that first corner, though not a sharp one, is a little intimidating. I got use to it after the third go around. I'm pretty sure Aiden had a good time even though he was a little upset that he couldn't steer or drive one alone.

Aiden has grown up with me as his playmate and sometimes I think he feels let down when I tell him I can't play right now because I'm tending to the baby. I'm thankful that my parents are willing to watch Evan so that I can give his big brother a little special attention so that he knows that I still love him very much. I truly do!

Untitled

2010-08-07T21:12:00.001-10:00

Preschool... The Real Deal!

2010-08-04T20:28:00.003-10:00

Lil' man started Preschool this week. Like I mentioned previously I have to volunteer as teacher helper so I signed up for the second day of class. I was able to observe him and witness how much he likes being in school. This school is great! There are only 9 kids and two adults in the class. All the lil' ones are adorable and it's wonderful to see just how excited they are to be there!

Triple D

2010-08-04T20:10:00.003-10:00

This adorable Frenchman is

This is his restaurant at Pier 38

He was just on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Yum!

Dining @ Home

2010-08-04T19:50:00.002-10:00

Tried out a couple of new recipes this week.

This is Emeril's Braised Chicken Thighs with Button Mushrooms

Hubby and kiddo had it over fresh tagliatelle and I had it over rice. Both were quite tasty!

And this wonderful dish is Tyler Florence's Ultimate Chicken Cordon Bleu

Emeril's recipe was easy but took over an hour to make while Tyler's took less time but had more steps. Both recipes were excellent and worth repeating!

100 Days

2010-07-30T14:33:00.006-10:00

On July 21st we celebrated Evan's 100th day with us. This is a Japanese tradition called Okuizome. It's when you offer the child his or her first "non-milk" meal and hope that there will always be plenty of food in the child's future. Obviously not a tradition we practice in Western cultures, but it's a celebration we had for Aiden and now for Evan. Of course we didn't feed either of them food, but just celebrated this milestone.

We are so lucky to have two wonderful little boys. They really have added so much joy to our lives and we couldn't imagine anything better!

Dole Plantation

2010-07-20T22:37:00.003-10:00

During the weeks Eric is working I try to come up with something fun for Aiden to do. Since he'll be going to preschool in a couple of weeks I think that these outings are our way to bond. I'm hoping that he will remember me for these things in the future, but with all the "No, Aiden!" and "Stop, Aiden!" it may not be so.

Anyway, today we joined our friends Beth and Marcel and headed off to Dole Plantation. Aiden remembered the train ride from before, but was really excited to go again because Marcel was going. Aiden just thinks the world of him and I'm so glad to have met them, too.

So, today we went on the 20 minute train ride, ate some Dole Whip, and enjoyed a little time in the pineapple garden.

I love this picture! They both look genuinely happy to be there. Aiden's dressing himself these days, folks. Hence the grey shirt and plaid green shorts.

This photo cracks me up. I don't think it was intentional, but they are both sporting the same pose.

Aiden was happy and willing to stick his head in this thing, but we may have twisted Marcel's arm a little. Hope it wasn't too painful for him ;)

We had a great time with great friends! Hope you are enjoy your last bit of summer before school starts.

Meals

2010-07-20T12:37:00.004-10:00

Well, I was hoping to use hubby's week off to be more productive with my sewing/business. By the time we eat breakfast and I nurse the baby it seems lunch time has crept up, then the same goes for dinner. Any down time I do have I don't seem to want to haul out the sewing machine or prep the material. I am, however, always looking for new meals to try out. So for the time being I'll probably just be sharing about what we're doing and some of the new meals I'm trying out.

This is a recipe from the program Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. It's Baked Eggs with Sausage and Mushrooms. I liked it okay, but it was a little greasy and I may have liked it more if it had less sausage and maybe more veggies.

I was craving an open faced turkey sandwich! I roasted off two turkey thighs (because they were less expensive and well... we like dark meat especially when it comes to turkey), made some mashed potatoes, and topped it off with some gravy. Yuuuuuuuuum! This would have been a super quick meal if I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco instead.

On this particular evening I wanted to try my hand at fondue. Well, by the time I boiled the broccoli & cauliflower; cooked up the kielbasa; cut up the baguette; made the cheese fondue I was too starved to bother taking a picture. I have determined that making fondue is a lot of work. I wouldn't have thought so, but it is. Anyway, after my belly was fed I made the chocolate fondue for dessert. Pound cake, marshmallows and strawberries were dipped into melted semi-sweet chocolate. I could have passed out from all its ooey gooey yumminess! And I wonder why I'm in the shape that I am. Well, not really... I know why.

Don't Play with Scissors!

2010-07-10T20:57:00.003-10:00

Well I'm probably to blame for this one. I was trimming my bangs and must have forgotten to put away my scissors.

Aiden found them and did this

So we had to do this

You're absolutely right Jenn, at least it will grow back! Zion and Aiden are sporting the same do :)

Doraemon

2010-07-09T09:32:00.003-10:00

I know I've mentioned this before...I spent most of my childhood growing up on Yokota AFB, Japan. Living in Japan was a real treat and living on base was especially nice. We got all the comforts of Western living, but could easily access all the wonderful things that Japan had to offer. The latter was especially nice since my Oba-chan (grandmother) could easily walk off base to go shopping.

One of the things I loved were all the Japanese cartoons and one of my favorites was Doraemon. Ahhh... I remember it fondly.

You can bet how extremely thrilled I was when our family friend, Miho, came to visit and brought my little guy this...

The cutest Doraemon onesie I've ever seen! I love it so much that I think I'll frame it after Evan grows out of it. Of course at the rate he's growing it won't be very long before this onesie is hanging on the wall!

Preschool

2010-07-07T14:33:00.003-10:00

I've complained about preschool before. Complained about how extremely expensive it can be here. The cost of living in Hawaii is rather high. Most consumer products are priced higher than you'd find on the mainland and preschool is no different. Because it is generally required that both parents work in order to live here you'll find that preschools are 5 days a week and 8-9 hours a day and $500-$1000 a month. I understand that this is helpful to those who have full time jobs. Since I'm a stay at homer, I don't require my four year old to be at school all day, every day. I'll tell you... finding a part-time preschool was a challenge! I found that the YMCA near my sister's house had a part-time school (three days a week, three hours a day, and $120 a month). I went to put Aiden on the wait list back in November and I haven't heard a peep from them. Then I recently ran into a gal (my friend, Beth) at the park. She's a teacher and asked if I had heard of Coop preschools. I hadn't. So, I looked up Coop preschools and found two on the island. One is on the other side of the island in Kailua and the second, IPCP, was on our side in Ewa. So, I called and filled out an application. He was number 10 on the wait list, but I was told that if they found a teacher for the afternoon class that he'd get in. They called me yesterday and he's IN! Woo Hoo! He'll start school on August 2nd. Three days a week, three hours a day, $165 a month! Being a one income household this was music to my ears! A Coop Preschool requires the parents to participate at least once a month and help with fundraising. I'm willing and able! :) Preschool here we come.

The Children's Discovery Center

2010-07-07T13:58:00.005-10:00

Today we joined my friend, Beth, and her son, Marcel, at the Children's Discovery Center . I was thrilled to finally take him there, but extremely disappointed when they told me that I had to park my stroller and carry around my 18 lb. baby and a 5 lb. diaper bag. I didn't think to bring a carrier as I thought this was a "children's" museum and was stroller friendly. Anyway, Aiden L-O-V-E-D it, but I was in pain and had to cut the visit short (less than 2 hours).

The place is pretty amazing. The first third of the museum was designed to teach the children about their bodies and about nutrition/exercise. I don't think Aiden fully understood it and zipped through most of it rather quickly. I couldn't get a good picture since I was trying to keep Evan supported. Here is one picture of the two kids in the dental hygiene exhibit.

They also had this little section closed off for infants and toddlers. There was a sailboat inside and Aiden got very excited. He put on a life vest (like a skirt mind you) and hopped in.

The second third of the museum was "Your Town." It housed a city bus, theater, broadcast studio, court house, post office, super market, police and fire station, and auto shop. Everything was really cute! You know kids... they mess everything up and take off. I imagine the staff goes around regularly to put things back in their place. It was really wonderful how all the little children lit up when they were in this part of the center.

The third part we never made it to. It's about the different countries. I promised that Aiden could go back next week when Hubby was home to finish seeing the rest.

For $8/person you can't go wrong! Children love this place!

Happy 4th!

2010-07-04T22:06:00.004-10:00

Well, the day started off good, had a couple of rough spots, and ended okay.

Hubby was suppose to be out at sea today, but last night he called to say that he'd be home early in the morning. Yippee! Then after he woke up he received a call that he'd have to go back to work later tonight (making us wonder why on earth they had to work to unhook everything only to have to hook everything back on less than 24 hours later?). Anyway, having him home was nice even though it was brief. We made hamburgers for lunch and headed over to my parents' house for dinner.

Aiden and Shelby lit a few sparklers

and then Aiden was suppose to go with the grandparents to Hickam to watch their fireworks show. He started acting up so we quickly nixed that. All was not lost as we had a pretty good view of the Pearl Harbor fireworks show from the bedroom.

Hope your 4th was a nice one!

P.S. If you're wondering what that kissing sound is... it's Evan trying to find his thumb. The other sound effects are from Aiden trying to make the fireworks seem a lot closer I presume.

Dinosaurs

2010-06-29T14:41:00.004-10:00

Yesterday I was at a loss for what to do with Aiden. So after what seemed like an uneventful time at the park I asked him if he'd like to go see the dinosaurs. He said, "yes" but when we got to the mall he refused to go on the train. I tried to convince him that it would be fun, but he really did not want to go for a ride. So, we just walked around the perimeter (which took 5 minutes) and then we were done. At least he humored me and let me take pictures.

Table Redo

2010-06-25T18:43:00.003-10:00

Our dining table was a little over 6 feet long. A great size for any normal home, but for our townhouse it was a little big. So, after ... um... I don't know... 5-6 years I finally decided to fix it. I cut 2 feet out of the center, re-attached the remaining two pieces and added some good ol' fashion child labor in for good measure (priming the table).

I ran out to Lowes to purchase some China White paint and Wha-La....

Our new...old table!

I have a thing about belly buttons...

2010-06-23T18:42:00.004-10:00

I had my fingers crossed that my belly button would not pop out during pregnancy. You see that little nub gives me the hee bee jee bees. Well, you can imagine how I felt to see that my little baby has an umbilical hernia. At first it started off like any ordinary baby belly button. The cord fell off and it was an innie. Then after a little bit it became an outie. Then after a couple of months it got bigger and bigger. If you pressed on it you could hear a squishing sound! I called the doctor's office and explained what was going on and was assured that it indeed was an umbilical hernia. Since his 2 month appointment was right around the corner the doctor didn't think it was necessary for me to rush in. She said it was just cosmetic at this point and really no need to worry and the sound I was hearing was the intestine. Um... gross! Wouldn't you freak out after hearing that?

Well, we still haven't made it to his two month appointment yet. The appointment was last week, but due to a death in the doctor's family I was asked to reschedule it for this coming Friday. Then I was called today and told that the doctor will not accept afternoon appointments until after the funeral so I was rescheduled to next Tuesday morning. So, I'll have a list of questions to ask next week. I hope most of my concerns are normal. Because I tend to think everything relates back to his umbilical hernia. His irritability. His delayed BMs. Guess we'll see.

Surf-N-Turf

2010-06-20T21:08:00.002-10:00

Since going out to celebrate Father's Day isn't really an option I decided to treat Eric to a fine dining experience here at home. I went to the market today and bought a couple of lobster tails and defrosted a steak I had in the freezer. Add a little clarified butter and a baked potato and wha-la.... surf-n-turf home style!

He deserves to be spoiled every now and again. He works extremely hard to provide for this family and comes home to a four year old demanding every ounce of his attention. I know he's exhausted and yet he takes over with the kids so I can get things done. I love him immensely and couldn't ask for a more wonderful father for my two sons. As a little surprise I bought him this with our kids' birthdays on it. I hope he likes it.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

2010-06-20T08:50:00.002-10:00

Just because...

2010-06-13T07:54:00.001-10:00

I couldn't resist and I can.

Sweetheart

2010-06-13T07:35:00.005-10:00

My oldest is such a sweet little guy. He has been in trouble a lot since Evan's arrival, but I know he's been acting up because his life has changed. He doesn't let his scoldings get in the way of loving his little brother, though. He is constantly smothering Evan with kisses (sometimes a little too much). Yesterday during one of Evan's crying fits (I was moving the laundry to the drier) I returned to the living room to find this...

He grabbed the bottle to comfort Evan and even put down the burp cloth to catch the leaks!

And then later in the day when I put Evan down for a nap I found Aiden in the room rocking the cradle after Evan woke up crying. He really does have a BIG heart and I love him so much!

Colicky

2010-06-07T22:52:00.003-10:00

Well, my baby has a tendency to start crying in the evening. Crying like he's in excruciating pain. Loud cries... cries that make a mama want to cry. The kind of crying that makes you worry. What's wrong? What happened? Why?

Colic.

My sister told me to look up colic. I thought colic was an all day event, but it turns out that it is actually a crying episode that usually occurs some time in the evening. Well, from the description in the article it seems that colic is what I have on my hands. Believe me when I say, "It's NO fun."

Evan has been super gassy. Big emphasis on SUPER! I've given him gas drops, but they don't seem to helping him all that much. I thought about what I was consuming and the most regular item in my daily diet is milk/dairy. Milk in my cereal. Milk in my coffee. Ice Cream. So, I thought that lactose free milk might help the situation. I need cereal in the morning because it's super fast to consume. A requirement for me... especially when I'm home alone with a fussy newborn. Have you tried Lactaid? It's not bad, but it is really sweet. I'm not sure why exactly. It's okay since I'm using it on my cereal or in my coffee, but I don't think I'd make any soups with it. The article mentions to cut our dairy, beans, onions, broccoli, caffeine... etc. I hope switching to lactose free milk is okay. If not... I'll be switching to soy milk.

I don't want to believe that colic could last a month or two. I'll be in tears if that is the case for us. I won't be able to function properly. I can't drink caffeine... I won't be able to keep up with Aiden! Please... please... don't let it last a month. I beg you.

I won't say that I haven't been lucky. I have parents who let me stay at their home until I'm ready to leave; a mother who makes wonderful meals and feeds me so that I don't have to sit alone at home with a screaming child; a father, mother, and aunt who all try their very best to calm said screaming baby; a sister with great and useful advise (it really helps that she's got a baby one month older. It's been 4 years since Aiden was a baby... I've forgotten everything!). I have been blessed with such a loving and supportive family. I'm so thankful for them.

It will be such a relief when Eric returns. To have someone here at home to ~~share the pain with~~ help. Two more days!

Fair, Date, Ohio

2010-06-02T21:39:00.003-10:00

We took Aiden to the 50th State Fair on Monday. I know... this is the third blog post about this event in three years. Really, there isn't much to do in Hawaii. So, when the state fair comes around... it's blog worthy. We always start off the fair at this little "Catch the Turtle" game. You fork over $2 and the lil' guy gets unlimited chances to win a prize. This way he comes home with something :)

Aiden reached the 42" mark this year so he could ride the kiddie rides himself... yipee! When a book of ticket only allows for 4 kiddie rides you can go through a lot of books when you have to accompany your child. This year he was able to repeat rides because we didn't have to go on!

This Traffic Jam (aka Fun House) or "Castle" as Aiden referred to it was his favorite! He went through it 4 times!

Aiden and Eric on this free fall thingy. It just goes up and drops down several times. As you can see on Aiden's face he really liked this one. It gave him a little taste of what the big kid rides would be like in his future!

Eric and I never got to celebrate our anniversary in April. On Tuesday my mother and aunt offered to watch the kids so we could go out to eat lunch (we considered it our Anniversary Lunch). We enjoyed another teppanyaki meal, but this time at a restaurant called Restaurant Suntory. It was really nice. The food was great and we were able to enjoy a meal sans kiddos.

And today, Wednesday, Eric and Aiden flew off to Ohio. We got word that Eric's grandmother, who is 96, suffered a heart attack over the weekend. Due to her age the doctors said that they couldn't operate, so the two of them went to go visit with her.

Although, they are going for a rather serious reason they will be there in time to enjoy a few events. They'll be there to celebrate Aiden's cousin, Kyle's, high school graduation, Eric and Aiden will get to meet Sammy (the newest Geiger cousin) for the first time, and Aiden will also be going to his first Major League Baseball game... Indians vs. Redsox.

And they're off!

Evan and I will be holding the fort down until you return!

Memorial Day

2010-05-29T12:14:00.002-10:00

It's Memorial Day weekend folks. The time we honor those who fought our wars, the friends we have lost, and our dear loved ones who have passed on.

It was a little difficult to explain to Aiden what we were doing. Telling him that all these people were gone may have been a little confusing since the only reference to death he has is a game where the characters die but then come back to life. He still thinks our dear cat, Woobie, is still in the hospital (although, I'm pretty sure he understands that she won't be coming home).

Hope you are all having fond memories of your loved ones who have moved on. May they all rest in peace.

Rainy Day Fun

2010-05-28T15:55:00.002-10:00

Today was a rainy day. I needed to find something fun to do indoors. So, I thought Aiden would enjoy playing with this little paper city from the very creative Made by Joel. I think I was more excited by it than he was :) Oh well... I tried. Isn't this just the cutest!?!

Thank you gifts...

2010-05-27T08:38:00.004-10:00

Recently I've seen this idea floating around blogland and the timing could not have been more perfect. I needed some gifts to give the staff of the Montessori class I've been attending. So, here are the pictures from my experience.

Four bottles of hand soap = $1.07 each

Transparency for labels = $.78

Remove existing label from soap. Take off adhesive using tape.

Cut out your labels. I didn't do it here, but you should cut the label out to fit the shape of the bottle. Square label doesn't fit well in round bottle. Roll label, slip it inside soap bottle, and use the pump stick to put it in place.

Finished products... the creamy soap wasn't a great idea either. It doesn't bother me enough
to toss it though.

The staff will get a bottle of hand soap and an oven mitt/pad. The pad was $2.50.

So, for less than $5 you have a nice gift set!

Friends and family... don't be surprised if you see this again somewhere in the future ;)

Sleepy Smiles

2010-05-24T22:20:00.004-10:00

I'm looking forward to the day that Evan recognizes me and gives me a smile. Until then, I'm happy to have these spontaneous smiles that occur before he heads off to la la land. Don't adjust your monitors... it's a blurry photo. Sorry.

Oh... before I forget. Check out this quilt that my dear friend, Petra, made for Evan. I have been meaning to blog about it, but she beat me to it. Thanks again Petra. I can't say this enough, "You rock!"

Eyes

2010-05-20T23:23:00.003-10:00

Being part of a family of brown eyes I always thought it would be really cool to have a child with blue eyes. Lucky me to marry a gorgeous blue eyed guy! I had my fingers crossed with Aiden, but alas his eyes are like mine. Hopes were high for Evan, but looks like they'll fall on the darker side too.

But, for now... I'm happy with this charcoal grey

Wish they would stay.

Side by Side Comparison

2010-05-18T15:38:00.002-10:00

My one month old is a very BIG boy. He had his one month doctor's appointment last Friday and weighed in at 12 pounds 12 ounces. So, that means he gained 4 pounds in 4 weeks! He weighs more than his 2 month old cousin. Just look at him! We call him our Little Buddha Baby!

3...2...1...Blast Off!

2010-05-16T21:42:00.004-10:00

Aiden is really into rockets and had asked awhile back if he could get one. Knowing how much Eric loves rockets too, I told him that he had to ask his father. Of course, Eric couldn't say "No." So, on his week off Eric took Aiden to the hobby store to pick out a rocket. The picture above is of the second rocket purchased... the first one flew up very high and the parachute took it over some homes only to disappear into someone's yard. They had to run out and purchase a new one with a smaller engine. Our neighbor wanted to watch, but Aiden was gracious enough to let him have a chance at a launch.

Here is video of the launch. It's a little rocky because I was wearing Evan and he wanted me to sway so that he could sleep. Hope you have your sea legs...

Ramblings from the Sleep Deprived

2010-05-09T11:59:00.004-10:00

So, let's see... what's been going on over here?

1) Hubby and I celebrated our seventh anniversary on April 27th. We didn't really celebrate, but exchanged cards :)
2) Suffering from a mild case of the "Baby Blues."
3) One of Aiden's front teeth has turned grey. I completely started to freak out because I'd never seen anything like that before. After one of my Montessori lessons I went to get Aiden from the daycare and learned that he had fallen and hit his mouth on one of the cafeteria tables. I didn't think anything of it because he said he was okay and that his tooth didn't bother him. Needless to say he had basically killed the roots to his tooth and as a result it has turned grey. I was told there is nothing to do and since it will fall out on it's own in a couple of years to just let it be (unless it's bothersome). I cried over this (refer to #2) because I want Aiden to have a beautiful smile... now it's beautiful but slightly tinted.
4) Evan gained 20 ounces in 9 days! His doctor said she would be happy with 9 ounces in 9 days and was really shocked to find that he had gained 20! She told me to limit his feedings to 20 minutes, but that's really hard to do when your child is screaming to be fed constantly. So, he's already a nice plump bebe! Will continue to be so I presume.
5) Waking up every 3 hours at night is taking it's toll on me. "Sleep when the baby sleeps" doesn't work when you have a 4 year old. Thankfully Evan falls asleep after feeding in the wee hours of the morn., but still hard to function on little sleep.
6) I think there is something wrong with Evan's eyes because he has a lot of eye gunk and it's really yellow. Took him to see the doctor yesterday, but she said his eyes looked fine. I was relieved, but still unsure if she's right.
7) Eric's schedule has changed a little. If for any reason he has to take the boat out of the harbor he is considered to be underway and is required to put in a full 12 hours. He was also told that Dock Days were to be 12 hours, too. Seems that they have relaxed on that ruling a little. If he asks he can leave after 8, but it has to be approved. So, I'm starting to feel a little like a single mom on the two weeks he's working because he doesn't get home until 7:30 - 8 p.m. and Aiden is due to go to sleep at 8 p.m.. Again, I cried (Ref. #2), but am slowly adjusting.
8) My parent's returned from a three week trip to Japan yesterday. It's really nice to have them home.
9) Got to sleep in on Mother's Day. Well, I still had to wake up to feed, but Eric took Evan out of the room around 8 this morning and I was able to sleep until 9:30! Woo Hoo! That was probably the best "Mother's Day" gift of all!

Hope all the Moms out there are enjoying their day!

Sending my love to you all!

Photo Shoot

2010-04-25T10:51:00.009-10:00

Things can be awfully expensive these days... wouldn't you agree? You have to pick and choose how to spend your money. You want nice things, but often times they are just too expensive to justify spending that kind of $$$ on. The internet offers consumers an alternative to almost everything. If you're willing to get your hands dirty and make it or do it yourself you can really save a lot and have a knock-off version of that "something special" you so desperately want.

With a newborn I wanted to have professional "looking" photos for his birth announcement. We can't hire anyone and wouldn't dare think of spending that kind of cash on something like photos. So, I looked up newborn photographers and scoped out their portfolios for poses I thought I could replicate. Here is what I found and here are my results.

Captured by Carrie

Photo from Captured by Carrie

Photo by me :)

This is as close as I could get. I was too worried that Evan would pee all over Aiden so we had a towel down on Aiden's back. Turned out to be an eye sore in the photo. Plus Evan wasn't asleep and wouldn't lay still so Eric was hold him at the waist.

Heather Mosher

I wish I could copy ALL of her photos! She's an amazing photographer!

Photo by Heather Mosher

Photo by me :)

Mine's in black and white because the others are black and white.

Photo by Heather Mosher

Photo by me :)

I couldn't get his hands any further below his chin without him screaming... so we settle with what he'd allow.

A very BIG thank you to my sister for letting me borrow her DSLR.

Oh, and I use Picnik to edit my photos.

Wonderful Baby

2010-04-23T15:23:00.003-10:00

There is just something so wonderful about a newborn baby! Holding him and touching his soft fuzzy skin. The warmth of his cheeks against mine. Bonding with him and kissing those darling little hands and feet. I love, love, love him so much!

Tangy Chicken with Orzo Pilaf

2010-04-19T19:53:00.003-10:00

Tonight I tried another recipe from Everyday Food Magazine. This is the Tangy Chicken with Orzo Pilaf. Hubby isn't a big fan of vinegar, so I didn't use as much as it called for and added chicken broth for the liquid requirements. Aiden ate most of his dinner. I think that's a good sign... don't you?

Peanut Butter & Jellyfish + Science

2010-04-19T19:28:00.002-10:00

One of the books that I received from my Montessori class is Peanut Butter & Jellyfish. Aiden really enjoys this story. My instructor gave us gummy worms to make our own PB & Jellyfish sandwiches at home. Today I did just so. Aiden thought this was really funny... a jellyfish sandwich with goldfish crackers... ha!

One of the science lessons that we were shown was this physics demonstration on repulsion. You sprinkle a bowl of water with pepper.

Dab a little drop of soap onto your finger

Touch the surface and watch the pepper move!

We did this experiment 3 times!

Evan Mamoru

2010-04-18T01:45:00.005-10:00

I went in for my repeat c-section on Monday (4.12.10). Our second son, Evan Mamoru, was delivered at 12:10 p.m.. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 10.6 oz. and was 20.5 inches tall/long.

My stay in the hospital was four long days. I am still recovering from the surgery, but my pain has decreased significantly. It hurts the most when I laugh, cough, or sneeze. Getting out of bed is a little challenging, but that is getting easier too. I hope that by next week I will be pain free and moving around as I use to. I am so lucky that the Pregnancy Rhinitis is gone. Actually as they were removing Evan from my belly my sinuses cleared! I didn't expect that to happen as the information I was reading said that the congestion could last up to 2 weeks post pregnancy. So glad that that was not the case for me!

Making those meals ahead of time proved to be a good idea. We came home on Thursday and I made Eric some chicken katsu, yesterday I baked the lasagna and today I fried up some croquettes. Three nights of not having to prepare any meals has been great! I wish now that I had come up with some other dishes. Oh well, tomorrow night it's back to figuring out... what's for dinner!?!

Aiden is adjusting well to having a brother. Thankfully, Eric is off for another week so he can give Aiden the attention that I can't. I hope that when Eric returns to work that I can pick up where he left off. It's great that Evan sleeps most of the day, but at night it's a different story. The lack of sleep will likely cause some crabbiness in me. I'll need to remind myself that I can't let that affect my relationship with Aiden. He still needs my attention and affection. I hope that a consistent sleep routine will begin to reveal itself soon.

Thank you to all our family and friends that kept us in their thoughts during this wonderful time. It is so nice to have you all in our lives and we love you!

Getting Ready

2010-04-10T23:19:00.004-10:00

On Monday I'm scheduled to have a repeat c-section. I've had my fingers crossed that the baby doesn't try to make an early appearance and so far so good. I'm feeling o.k, but this baby certainly feels very large! My feet have swollen and doubled in size and this body is ready to return to a somewhat normal state. I'm also suffering from what I believe to be pregnancy rhinitis. This has made these last couple of weeks quite miserable.

We're still in the process of preparing for the baby's arrival. We've swapped out Aiden's full size bed for a twin size (thanks to my parents) and hubby put up the crib in his room. I've washed all of the clothes I saved from when Aiden was a baby to use again. Stocked up on wipes, diapers and other essentials. I'm still, however, working on clearing out my side of the bedroom so that we can set up the cradle (which we still need to purchase a mattress for). I hope to get to that tomorrow.

On this Saturday evening before delivery I figured I better make some meals ahead of time. Hubby is an excellent cook, but he doesn't do much of it. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that he cooks every dinner when he's out at sea. I can't blame him for not wanting to cook when he's home. Anyway, I figured after the baby's arrival I wouldn't want to think about what's for dinner every night. We can't afford take out that often and I'm really not going to want to cook with a crying baby and demanding four year old at my side. So, in the last several hours I made 2 trays of lasagna, a tray of croquettes, and a tray of chicken katsu. They are all setting up in the freezer and tomorrow will be stored in freezer bags. I hope that this works out. I've never really frozen our meals ahead of time before and then to cook them from a frozen state.

Well, this will probably be my last post until I return from the hospital.

Later gator!

Spring!

2010-04-10T13:40:00.003-10:00

Baked Chicken

2010-04-09T20:28:00.005-10:00

I'm sure that you're probably not that interested in all the dinners I'm making, but since this is my last few days as a pregnant woman I'm really not up to doing much. So, as a result I'm only able to blog about what we are eating... sorry.

Tonight I tried my first recipe from Everyday Foods magazine. What's probably the best $12 subscription I've ever paid!

This is the baked chicken with onions, potatoes, garlic, & thyme. It doesn't have a measurement for salt. It could have used a little more than what I tossed in, but it was still quite yummy!

Maybe next I'll try to make the leek, bacon & pea risotto. Looks and sounds so good!

I should probably add that I'm really into one pot cooking. Even though this chicken recipe says it takes an hour to make, the prep really only takes about 10. You just cut everything up, put it in the roaster with the chicken, toss all of it with the seasonings and stick it in the oven. Set the timer for 50 minutes and you'll be ready to eat one tasty meal! Really easy. Really! You gotta love easy!

Jambalaya!

2010-04-05T20:02:00.005-10:00

I'm not a healthy eater. I'm actually pretty terrible about my diet. I wish it weren't true, but I have to be honest here (this is my blog after all).

Hubby wants to try to eat healthier... for the sake of the kiddos and for our own benefit. When he came home tonight I asked what he was craving for dinner. He wasn't sure, so I searched Food Network's site to see what sounded good. I knew for sure that Ellie Krieger would have a healthy recipe. So I scrolled down her Top 100 recipes until I found something that had good ratings and sounded yummy for tonight. It wasn't long 'til I came across her Jambalaya with Shrimp and Ham recipe. This is amazing! Delicious! Incredible! You have to give it a try! Even my vegan friend may be able to substitute the shrimp and ham with other animal free products (someone used extra firm tofu and said it was good). The store didn't have the no salt diced tomatoes, so I cut a little of the salt out of the recipe and used the diced tomatoes that I found. I also left the cayenne out since the 4 year old was going to eat some, too. It was full of flavor! You'd never imagine that this is actually a very healthy dish!

Hubby wants the recipe so that he can make it for his crew on the tugboat! That says a lot since there are 4 hungry men out there!

Sweet lil' baby...

2010-04-03T21:42:00.004-10:00

My sister gave birth to her second daughter, Reese, on March 3, 2010 (Girl's Day). She's just a beautiful little gal!

Even though she's a month old I've only had the pleasure of visiting with her 3 times. I forget how tiny newborns are. She has the most delicate hands, too!

I just had to make something for her first Easter. So today I whipped up that lil' bunny up there.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-02T17:07:00.002-10:00

This year the MOMS Club that I'm part of had an Easter Egg Hunt for all the kiddos. It was great, because the egg hunt that Aiden usually goes to will not be held this year. So, I grabbed a blanket to sit on, his Easter pail and the camera and headed out this morning so that we could participate in the holiday festivities.

The park was covered in plastic eggs! The kids were all excited about the hunt!

Lil' guy had a pretty good collection of colorful eggs. They weren't all filled with candy (which was great!). Some of them had tattoos, tickets for books, coins, and rubber duckies. A nice little variety of goodies. I know he had a great time and I'm so thankful that the MOMS Club held this event this year!

Bishop Museum - Circus! Science Under the Big Top

2010-03-31T16:16:00.002-10:00

Since I had an appointment in town today, I thought we could use the afternoon to take the lil' guy to the Bishop Museum. They have this circus exhibit that I thought he might enjoy.

It was an O.K. exhibit. If he was a little older it may have been better suited for him. They had a high wire set up (2-3 feet off the ground) and a bungee type contraption so the kids and adults could experience what it would be like balance across the rope or soar above the audience. Lil' guy was too short/light for both. I tried my best to convince hubby to do one of them so Aiden could at least see him in action (for the $30 cost of admission I begged and pleaded), but he wouldn't budge.

They had this costume section where the kids could dress up in circus costumes... Aiden didn't want to wear any of them! He at least let me take a muscle shot of him.

So, what probably would take a normal family 45 - 60 minutes to enjoy... took us about 20 - 30.

This is the contortionist box. Look at how he can contort himself to fit neatly in that box... without any effort!

If you have older kids they might be interested in this exhibit. Younger kids.... hmmm... I don't know.

Couple of Updates....

2010-03-27T17:48:00.002-10:00

1) I found the lost shopping cart cover. It wasn't actually lost... more like cleverly misplaced. I had stored it somewhere (ahem) safe, but forgot where. Don't you hate when that happens?

2) I emailed Whey Low and they refunded me $7.75 for the s&h. If anyone in Hawaii would like to order from them here is a link to their website and this is what Erica Wheaton from Vivalac told me to do for my future orders, "Going forward please note in the notes section of your order flat rate and we will refund the difference. FYI we can fit five 2-lbs of Whey Low in a medium flat rate and eight 2-lbs of Whey Low in a large flat rate box. I hope this helps."

Easter Prep

2010-03-24T00:25:00.003-10:00

I made this lil' guy for my friends' son, Kai. They call him their little monkey, so I thought these sock monkeys would be appropriate (even though it's technically an Easter Rabbit). Any excuse for me to use Moda's sock monkey print is a good excuse. I ♥ them!

Are you preparing for Easter? I wish I could have justified spending $ on the Finally Easter Craft Class, but I couldn't. So, I'm really looking forward to seeing what wonderful things Christy from Sweet Tidings makes/learns (she's participating in the class). She makes some of the cutest softies/dolls already. I can't imagine what else this gal could possible learn! I don't know if Christy is finally using a machine, but she was making everything by hand before. Crazy and Amazing! Check out her wonderful blog and her Etsy shop if you get the chance.

Anyway, Easter is just around the corner!

Hippity Hop!

What did you learn today?

2010-03-22T10:42:00.007-10:00

We were finally well enough to have preschool today. I tried to teach the kids a couple of things that I learned from the Montessori Workshop I'm attending.

Science

Top - Middle - Bottom

Using water, oil & syrup to demonstrate

Math
Using the counting beads

Teaching them to count and helping them sort

Art

Here I was trying to demonstrate how the wax of the crayon repels the watercolor paint.

It didn't work out so well, though. I think they used more paint than water.

Nature

Outside on the patio the kids discovered two lizards.

I finally realized that they were chameleons when the brown one started turning green.

They started fighting (the lizards, not the kids)

The lesson I learned today... indoor activities aren't as interesting as two fighting chameleons!

New Product Tried - Whey Low

2010-03-21T20:18:00.003-10:00

Well... my never ending quest to find the best sugar substitute may have come to an end... Finally.

Enter Whey Low

Last month I went to get my annual eye exam. I started reading Southern Living magazine while I was waiting for my pupils to dilate. There was an article about sugar subs and the nutritionist said that she had found the perfect one. It claims to taste exactly like sugar and when used in cooking measures exactly the same. It also has 75% less calories. I went to visit the website and it said that Whole Foods was carrying it, but when I called ours they had never heard of it. So, I had to resort to an online purchase. My package arrived the other day and I finally tried some today. My coffee (don't worry... it's decaf) is sweetened and there is NO funny after taste! I will have to try it out in other things to be for sure, but I think this is IT!

The only irritation I have with my purchase is that they charged me $12 s&h while the product was less than that. They mailed it out to me in a small flat rate box (USPS) for $4.85! I'm sending them an email here shortly because that is just ridiculous! I hate how companies think that shipping (small items) to Hawaii costs more. News Flash... IT DOESN'T!

Anyway... I'll keep you posted if I find that Whey Low disappoints in the future. So far... so good!

St. Patrick's Day Dinner... a day late

2010-03-18T19:41:00.004-10:00

There were a couple of reasons that I didn't make corned beef & cabbage last night for dinner. One being the garbage disposal and the other being a meeting that I needed to attend. So, tonight's celebration of St. Patrick's Day is a day late.

The thought of corned beef & cabbage never sounds all that appealing to me. However, reading all the blogs that were preparing a St. Patty's day feast convinced me to give it a try. So, I took a couple of recipes and used them for our dinner tonight.

The 2 lb. corned beef brisket was purchased and boiled according to the instructions. The cabbage was sauteed using this recipe from Simply Recipes. The Yukon Golds were boiled in salted water and then quartered and sauteed in some butter over the stove. The tangy mustard sauce came from here (I halved the recipe because I knew I'd be the only one using it) and I thought it was just the right amount of tangy and was great over the cabbage and beef.

Aiden ran into the kitchen and asked, "what are you making?" ... "spaghetti?" ... "pizza?" After I said, "No, I'm making corned beef and cabbage" I heard, "I don't like that." Funny... how does he know since he's never tried it? Hmm... and then he ate almost all of it!

What's growing?

2010-03-18T12:37:00.004-10:00

Besides this baby inside of me... that is.

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday and she said if she had to guess the baby is 7 lbs. They gain the most weight during the last month or so. Likely to be another big boy!

Well, Aiden stopped playing in his sandbox, so we took out all the sand and set it aside. I thought it would make a cute garden, so I put a few planter boxes inside and we planted some items. First I thought we'd plant some carrots, but they never took. I don't really have a green thumb, so I may have planted them too deep or over watered them. We're better off buying plants that are ready to be transplanted to larger containers... so... that's what we did.

Mojito Mint, Green Onion, Basil (which were from seedlings... hurray!) Rosemary, Dill, and Strawberries (no sign of fruit yet)

This is the tree that is just outside our patio. For years, I hadn't a clue what was growing on it. Turns out to be Strawberry Guava. The neighbor lady told me that this is actually an invasive species to the Hawaiian islands.

I think they are a little tart, but Aiden likes them.

So... that's what's growing around here. How about where you're at?

What's going on with me?

2010-03-18T12:09:00.002-10:00

I don't know what's going on! I'm becoming very forgetful. Is there really such a thing as pregnancy brain? I don't know, but I'm starting to worry a little. Let's see... where do I begin.

Someone asked be back in August if I could hold a shopping cart cover for them. It was for a baby shower registry and since the baby wasn't due until January they asked if I would mind holding it until then. Well, it never sold so I took it off reserve and posted it for sale as I would normally do. When we were threatened by the tsunami (last month) I took all my merchandise out of the Rubbermaid bin that I had it stored in so that I could fill the container with water... you know... just in case. I finally used up all the water on the plants and return said merchandise to the bin, but THAT shopping cart cover is missing! M-I-S-S-I-N-G! I don't remember selling it. I don't remember giving it away. I don't know where it went! Confused!

I was doing the dishes the other night and forgot that I accidentally knocked a coin into the garbage disposal. Did the dishes the following night and wouldn't you know... the coin jammed the disposal! UGH! Eric had to take the disposal out and push the coin through. Luckily it took only 30 minutes or so to repair!

I wake up several times (between 5-10) a night to use the bathroom. They say you should stop drinking fluids by seven p.m. when you're pregnant, but really WHO does that? Anyway, all this waking up makes for a very tired mama in the morning. Aiden generally wakes up between 6:30 - 7 a.m. and comes to our room. He'll watch Curious George until 7:30, but then insist that we get out of bed. The other day I begged and pleaded that he give me just an extra half an hour! He started fussing with the alarm clock like it was a timer. Three Zero Zero! Thirty minutes! Guess who forgot he had played with the alarm clock.... you betcha! 3 a.m. is an awful time to be reminded!

Last night I went to store my contact lenses but couldn't find the cap to the left side of the lens case. I looked and looked. I even asked Eric if he could see it. We both didn't see it laying around. So, I opened a new lens case and went to bed. Well, during one of my bathroom breaks last night... there it was... sitting right next to the sink! Weird!

Hmm.... okay... I just asked Aiden if he took my lens cap. He admitted that he took it and brought it back to the bathroom last night during his own potty break. Man... I really thought I was going crazy! At least one thing was explained!

Ugh... sick...

2010-03-14T20:59:00.005-10:00

Well, the kiddo got sick last week and he's still suffering from a runny nose. This is the longest I think he's ever been sick! Eric was off last week and caught it, too. His was 10 times worse, though. Then... of course it finally made it's way to me, but thankfully I'm just mildly stuffy.

You probably can imagine that Aiden is suffering from cabin fever. We've let him play out in the front yard and on the patio, but we are restricting his interaction with his friends. Unfortunately that meant that hubby (poor hubby) had to be the playmate while he was super sick. I can play for little spurts, but sitting on the floor playing Legos just isn't the most comfortable thing for this pregnant gal... by the way... 4 weeks left!

I try to entertain him in different ways. For instance projects like decorating the playhouse or like today... making cupcakes.

Helping me mix the batter

Pouring

After licking the mixer beaters

Decorating the cupcake... he HAD to have marshmallows!

Ta-Da!

Before I got sick I had the chance to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. I just don't know about 3D movies. I can't tell if it's my poor eyesight (I wear contacts), but some of the movie became a distraction for me. It was hard for me to focus and most of it just didn't come across as 3D. I probably should have saved the extra $4 and just watched the standard version. Anyway... I digress... In the spirit of all the Wonderland hype... I made a special cupcake.

Don't you just love those chocolate mushrooms from Meiji? I thought it was very Wonderland-esque.

Studying...

2010-03-11T09:12:00.006-10:00

I wasn't familiar with the Montessori philosophy until I came across the Sew Liberated blog back when it was still the Montessori by Hand blog way back when. I thought the teaching style was very interesting and I wanted to learn more about it. At the time Aiden was still on the young side and much time had passed until I met my friend Shawna. We had a similar interest in crafts and she was the one who introduced me to The Toy Society. Anyway, at the time, Shawna's son was preschool age and she told me that she attended a program through Keiki O Ka Aina that taught her how to use Montessori preschool curriculum at home. As luck would have it, several weeks ago Shawna told me that Keiki O Ka Aina was having a 13 week program at the school just down the street! I called to sign up and so far have attended 2 sessions.

For $25 I get to learn new ways to be the best first teacher to Aiden and it comes with free childcare! Oh My Goodness! In the process I'm learning a lot about myself, though. Good and bad things. For instance, I can be impatient and I'm easily frustrated. They tell you that you should invite the child to the activity and if the child declines to ask again later. If the child accepts the invitation but then gets distracted you should offer to do the activity at another time. Well, you can imagine that Aiden is easily distracted even when I think we're free of distractions. I'm struggling too with the patience part. Constantly having to repeat something can be frustrating and I have to learn that Aiden needs time and repetition in order to learn. They also explain that you shouldn't tell the child that their answer was wrong, instead repeat your explanation and then pose your question again. I have to constantly catch myself before saying, "No... it's ____."

Here are a couple of the activities that we've done so far.

An Island

Is a body of land surrounded by a body of water

A Lake

Is a body of water surrounded by a body of land

(I should have chose a different shape to make my lake, because even though I explained that this was a lake when asked he kept saying it was a circle. He wasn't wrong, but it took over 5 tries until he said it was a lake.)

Counting Beads

The task was to put the beads in descending order in a pyramid and step pattern.

I'm loving all the new things that I get to teach him. This will also help me on Mondays when we have our homeschooling.

A Box... Some Construction Paper...

2010-03-10T20:40:00.004-10:00

My 4 year old still likes to sit in boxes. He will hide in one and probably fall asleep in one if you let him. Since he's been sick all week I thought we'd do a little project. I ran out and purchased a large packing box from a storage place up the street. I figured he could have a little fun indoors while he recovers.

Box: $4.25

Construction paper: gifted

Fun: priceless

Before

After

We built a little playhouse for him.

If we had the space I'd love to make him one of those card table playhouses that you see all over blogland, but we just don't have the space for that. This is a nice "small" alternative, though.

Tea for Two

2010-03-05T12:41:00.006-10:00

I wanted to do something special for my niece. You see her life is about to change. In a good way, but still it's about to change in a BIG way. My sister just gave birth to her second daughter on the 3rd and Shelby is now a BIG sister. Since Shelby is still recovering from a cold, she has yet to meet her little sister and doesn't quite understand how things will change when she gets home. I have no doubt that she will be excited to meet Baby Reese and that she will be an amazing big sister, though. So, since my little niece is SO into tea parties I thought it would be fun to throw one for her with Aiden by her side of course!

I bought mini cupcakes from the store. Cut out cheese sandwiches in the shape of acorns and maple leaves. I served it all along side some fresh fruit and kettle potato chips. I didn't think tea was the appropriate drink for 3-4 year olds so I made a batch of Calpis which is a Japanese milk based beverage that both of the kids love.

I think they both had a good time. I hope that they both felt a little "special" today and that they know that even though new babies are joining our lives they are still very much loved. ♥♥♥

Another Simple Dinner Idea

2010-03-04T10:29:00.003-10:00

Sometimes you just need a quick and simple dinner idea. I know I often do.

If you like Gyudon, then this is a quick recipe just for you!

Ingredients:

1/2 Onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp. Oil (Canola or Vegetable)

1 pkg. of Shirataki or Yam Noodles

1/2 pound of thinly sliced beef (cut into bite size pieces)

1/3 -1/2 jar of Korean BBQ Sauce (We like Man Nani Food Co.'s Korean Style Sauce)

Instructions:

saute onions in tablespoon of oil. When transparent add thinly sliced beef. Cook until meat is no longer pink, then add the rinsed Yam Noodles and Korean BBQ sauce. Cook until noodles are heated (about 2-3 minutes longer).

This is like Gyudon, just a little more tangy since it's a Korean Sauce.

Serve over rice.

Add a bowl of miso soup and a salad!

Ta-Da! Dinner is served.

Note: This serves about 4, but if you have a good eater (meaning someone who's likely to want seconds) you may want to adjust the recipe by using more beef. Yam noodles will take on the flavor of the sauce.

Best Wishes from Germany

2010-03-03T13:43:00.004-10:00

Yesterday I received a package. A gift from Germany had arrived. My dear friend, Petra, and her boyfriend, Martin, sent a bunch of wonderful goodies for my birthday. Yes, I know, my birthday is in January, but really... DOES it matter? Nope. Not when you get goodies like these!

Look at all this!

A collection of Echino fabric! To Die For!

Super Kawaii Tape!

The cutest Owl Stamp Ever!

German Ribbon!

Susan Boyle CD!

And a wooden ornament.

Really... some of the cutest ribbons found in the craft world!

And rolls and rolls of tape! Where does she find this stuff!?!

And how do you win over a 4 year old? Hmmm... can you say... chocolate?

Not just chocolate, but get this... chocolate eggs with....

Toys inside! Toys! TOYS!

Really... he's acting like he won the lottery!

Petra and Martin also bought me this wonderful book that I'm just drooling over!

Small Rooms for Kids

As you're probably aware, homes in Hawaii are generally small and condominium living is even tighter. The pictures and ideas in this book are just amazing! Makes it seem like living in such a small space is actually do-able!

Thank you, Petra and Martin! Really... you guys have really spoiled us (especially ME)!!!