the essential zickgraf

Ramen for Roman

2012-01-04T22:54:00.001-10:00

Roman wanted to put cinnamon and sugar on his Ramen for lunch the other day even though I advised against it.

He did anyway. He didn't eat it.

When I told him to come and sit down and eat his lunch, he refused and said it was "too soggy."

I giggled and didn't press it.

In other news, we've got frogs in our milk. Two floaters and one at the bottom chillin with a finger monster.

Give you three guesses how it got there.

Testimonies

2011-11-14T22:18:00.000-10:00

In Primary (LDS Sunday School for kids 3-12) today, Sis. Velasco asked for volunteers for someone very brave to come up and bear impromptu testimonies for part of Opening Exercises in place of talks. No one volunteered.... until finally Avril did. After being thanked for being so brave, she took her seat at the front. Still looking for the second someone, Sis. Velasco again asked for volunteers. This time, Xandri popped up and followed her sister's example.

After the opening prayer and the reading of this month's scripture, Avril stood to offer her testimony.

She spoke about the the truth of the scriptures & the prophet and then talked briefly about the importance that the Holy Ghost plays in our lives and described him as "Heavenly Father's helper".

Next it was Xandri's turn.

Without any prompting whatsoever, she began her testimony:

"I know that the Holy Ghost is real and that he's a ghost and that's ok because he's holy and he's not scary and that's good. And I know that he helps us and he's with us."

I stood in the back, (having had no idea what she would say) beaming with pride and laughing in delight of such sweet, pure testimony from the mouth of my babe.

Then she sat down and burst into tears.

Sis. Velasco had also laughed delightedly, she adores Xandri and loves to hear anything she has to say or watch everything she does. I hadn't noticed, but apparently several of the kids laughed as well. It absolutely broke my heart that this sweet and perfect moment was potentially ruined for my little one, so I gathered her up and we had a little chat while opening exercises continued. I did my best to tell and show her how absolutely proud of her I was and to let her know that people only laughed because they were so happy and delighted with her sweet testimony, not because it was silly or they were making fun. It was so wonderful how perfectly from her heart it was, how unscripted and honest and pure. I think I had her convinced by the end, but I suppose we'll only know for sure when she bears her testimony again.

Roman Says

2011-11-11T00:06:00.001-10:00

"Gibbidit". --old school Roman. He doesn't say this anymore but about six months ago it meant anything from "I'm giving this to you" to "Give it to me" to "Give it to ___"

"I want to carry you."

"I'm too heavy to carry you."

"...huh." (at the end of most sentences.)

"Mom, ih's soggy, huh, Mom." (any food that's been left out long enough to cool off or that he just doesn't want to eat anymore."

"Khajeep."--- what he calls Jeeps. Combination of "Khajiit" (cat person) from the video game Skyrim that we all have created characters on (his is a green Argonian- or lizard man) and "Jeep" which he got to ride in several times when "that guy" and Micaela were here.

"That guy"- Drew, Micaela's hubby.

"Woor"- how he says "your"

"Cars fighting, huh, Mom." Roman's review of Transformers.

SUPing

2011-11-10T09:01:00.001-10:00

Stand Up Paddleboarding.

We love it.

RolyPoly Bug

2011-11-05T23:38:00.000-10:00

The Inspiration.

Tuck and Roll, from A Bug's Life.

I get all sortsa giddy when I look at this kid. He's almost too big to pull it off, though. I mean, look at him, he's all stretched out! I don't see any of that rolypoly-ing going on. That's ok, I'm picturing it.

Supplies:

3 sheets dark blue craft foam

black & white acrylic paint mixed to form gray

fabric glue

onesie

those fancy pipe cleaners

hot glue gun

chunky newborn

A bit blurry, but some of us are incredibly wiggly these days.

Halloweening

2011-11-03T00:10:00.000-10:00

I am seriously on a roll this year. I can't even tell you how many projects I've been working on and FINISHING this month. Well, I could, but let's just stick to the subject at hand.

Because two of those projects are Halloween jar luminaries and bones. Super fun, instead of pumpkins this year (yeah, slacked off on buying them and when I went back they were gone! Sad face.) we painted these jars together.

Green- Roman, of course.

White- Avril's ghost

Black- Xandri's demon. With red eyes and eyelashes.

Orange- well, somebody had to do a typical pumpking. I did the honors.

Purple- Derek didn't actually finish putting a face on his.

The bones were these cool meringue cookies I made for Avril and Xandri to take to school for Halloween treats. And by "I made", I really mean I made the... batter, I guess... and Derek piped them onto the pan in bone shapes while I went to church choir practice. So THANK YOU, dear, for taking care of that for me. So it was a huge bummer the next day when they wouldn't come off the wax paper. Turns out wax paper isn't the same thing as parchment paper. Who knew?

For trick or treating, we got all sorts of dressed up. Roman was going to go as Optimus Prime and needed a haircut. So we obviously mohawked it. Because Optimus Prime wears a mohawk. Right?

This picture makes me think he shoulda been a rockstar.

Nekkid, sittin' on the sink, rubbing... tired? watery? itchy? eyes. It was REALLY HARD to hold still while all that gel dried. REALLY hard.

Meanwhile, my best spider pizza ever was happily baking in the oven. Gorgeous, isn't she? You can also call her OctaPie. Only it woulda been better if there were two of 'em. Get it? OctaPie? Get it?

Yeah, ok.

Anyway, recipe and directions to follow.

Post trick-or-treating scary faces. We went t-or-ting with our neighbors. I seriously think we were possibly one of two t-or-ting groups in our neighborhood. Seriously. In any case, we LOADED UP. I cannot believe how much candy we got this year. Eeeee.... good thing I scheduled dental appointments for everyone. Preempt it.

Avril- pirate girl

Xandri- batgirl (I did both of their makeup and while I actually kind of hated it because it's on little girls and they look soooo much cuter without it, it's getting me super excited to do makeovers on 'em when they really do get old enough to do makeup-- seriously fun!)

Max- Tuck or Roll from A Bug's Life (because babies always remind me of rolypoly bugs when they're new cause when they lay on their tummies they curl up just like 'em--- so cute!)

Roman- Superman (yeah, I know I said Optimus Prime earlier. OP disappeared conveniently five minutes before we needed to head out. Found 30 seconds before we walked out in last year's costume. Oh well, he's definitely gotten a lot of mileage out of OP.)

me- newsie (Or something. I decided between feeding Max, making spider pizza, picking kids up from school and prepping them for trick-or-treating I likely wouldn't have three hours to spend on my own makeup, so threw together a quick outfit that woulda made more sense if I were carrying around a roll of newspapers instead of a rolypoly bug. Bug's cuter, though.)

Seriously, is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen? (Listen, don't even argue with me, tell me about "your adorable kids" or your cute niece or nephew. Psh. I won't hear it anyway. I'm too busy looking at mine.) I'm pretty proud of myself for solving the costume dilemma since I couldn't find any such costumes online and I rely on the internet to solve all my problems. Nope, this time I got all sorts of creative and did it for about $5. Don't worry, I'll soon be putting up a post dedicated to a bunch more pics of it. Cause I know you want em.

Heather's Zombie Bachelorette Party

2011-10-31T00:26:00.000-10:00

My friend Heather is getting married and she asked me to be her maid of honor (Hawai'i version anyway). I was so flattered that she asked me and so excited for her, but also a little intimidated since all of my knowledge of maid of honor duties actually comes from the movies. When you're LDS and get married in the temple, you have little use for such, um, "positions", although many people still have those "positions" I guess at their receptions/celebrations afterward.

So. One thing I did know was bachelorette party. Also gleaned from movies. So since I didn't think Heather would actually want/enjoy that kind of bachelorette party, I went out on a limb and went a little more creative.

Like zombie creative. She & her fiance have a thing for zombies and she & I love dressing up and Halloween was shortly before her wedding... well, it just made the most sense of course.

So we dressed up. Went for more sexy zombie than gross zombie, though.

Zombies also need snacks while they're dressing to go out on the town, so everyone brought potluck body parts. I brought the brain and the eyeballs.

We also had mice, fingers and other eyeballs.

I'm the type of zombie who's not necessarily wanting to share germs with the other zombies, so rather than diving in face first I hacked that brain with a knife.

The appetizers weren't quite enough though. We were all still a bit hungry.

The Bride and her Bridesmaids.

After dressing all up we obviously had to go out and be seen. Unfortunately the costume party I'd been aiming for was earlier than we could make it. So we wandered lamely around Waikiki looking for something to do. We landed at some club with a costume party and a couple of us (Heather & me. And later Diane) got up and danced for a while. It was pretty fun. We agreed that we'd have to go out dancing again another time.

In retrospect I wish I'd planned something else fun for the after dress-up party. Like a photo scavenger hunt or something. That would have been fun and cool and could have started and ended whenever. Ah well. Next time, eh? The dressing up was the best part of the night, though, and super fun.

Congrats Heather! I love you, babe!

GQ

2011-10-26T20:43:00.000-10:00

I don't know why it took us so long to figure out that when wet and slathered with gel, Roman's hair not only becomes manageable, but absolutely adorable. I mean, seriously. Look at this kid.

Fortunately, he has a smart dad who understands the miraculous properties of hair gel. I seriously can't get enough of this!

Babies Sleep. A Lot.

2011-10-24T21:32:00.000-10:00

Roman's happy to have a brother.

We tried out the Bumbo. It's hard work sitting upright, holding that giant head up!

Tummy time on the Boppy... again with the giant head.

Bath Time!

2011-10-23T17:36:00.000-10:00

We've gone from bathing this squalling red creature in the sink for the first time:

to bathing this cherubic little angel in the sink for the last time:

Hi guys, what's up?

He was so cute smiling up at his daddy, I hurried to snap a pic. Guess he liked getting all his chins cleaned out. He didn't even squeak once during his bath. Seems he's gotten the hang of it.

So-- onto bigger and better things then! Like the tub.

Dia de los Muertos

2011-10-23T17:27:00.000-10:00

So my friend Natalie asked my advice on doing a sugar skull face for Dia de los Muertos/Halloween.

Good friend that I am, I did some extensive research on YouTube and experimented myself with some cheap Halloween makeup and then reported my findings.

It took me about 3 hours.

We were an hour late for the ward trunk or treat.

I discovered a new found love for makeup.

Gifts From the Heart

2011-10-17T21:28:00.000-10:00

With a big characteristically cheesy smile, Xandri handed me a bulky white envelope.

Inside the envelope was a red envelope with Chinese (I think?) writing and designs.

Inside the red envelope was a used white eraser, a Santa Claus eraser and an unruffled Fauna fairy sticker with the stickiness all used up.

Thank you, Xandri-- you give wonderful gifts!

Report Card: F for Fabulous

2011-10-17T21:23:00.000-10:00

Dear Mom,

I want you to know that you have earned a grade of fabulous. And I again fully love you. You a very very fabulous mom.

Yours in thunder,
Avril

opposite page: You're truly beautiful and NICE!

Oh, I love you, too, Avril. You are a fabulous daughter-- and I ALWAYS fully love you.

To Every Thing There Is A Season

2011-10-12T15:13:00.001-10:00

Ecclesiastes 3
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;... a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;.... a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;... a time to keep silence, and a time to speak...

Lately this scripture keeps running through my mind (although admittedly with a little more of The Byrds flair to it... turn! turn! turn!). I think it's my subconscious reminding me to chill out. There are so many things I want to do, to learn, to try-- and for many (ok, most) there is just not enough time.

My day starts feeding Max, getting the kids up and ready for school, cleaning the house, feeding Max, doing the dishes, maybe getting a project OR a workout OR an extra chore done before feeding Max and doing lunch, cleaning up after, spending time with Roman, picking the girls up from school, feeding Max, helping with homework, tidying the house before Derek gets home, feeding Max, making dinner, doing bathtime OR working out, bedtime routine, cleaning up after dinner, feeding Max, relaxing with Derek, going to bed and starting it all again the next day. In between that, it's kissing booboos, cleaning up spilt milkcerealapplesauceketchupjuice, changing diapers, refereeing, etc.

As a mom with four young kids, everything just takes longer. There was a point that that chafed a bit. It seemed like I had multiple friends (who also have kids) who were doing cool craftfoodbookphotography blogs or starting etsy shops or businesses or whatever. It felt like everyone else was somehow able to do it all but me. Over time I've realized how silly it is to compare myself and the way I spend my time with others. Sometimes I didn't take into account that some had fewer kids- or older kids- or a husband with more time available to be picking up slack- or local family that could watch the kids. Furthermore, I think there's a lot you don't see in other peoples' lives. Stuff that you wouldn't know about unless you were a fly on the wall. How messy their house is- daily, when no guests are expected. How often dinner is take-out.

The fact is, just like money, we all have a finite amount of time. And we all have different priorities and different ways to manage it. We usually choose what we want most to afford and let go of those things that we care less about. So for those of you who really are in my situation with your kids and still manage to do it all... please let me go on in blissful ignorance and enjoy the rationalizations I've come up with for why I'm not doing everything you are. Because I've come to the conclusion that this season of my life is for raising my kids. Not learning three languages, starting a business, training to be an instructor, or any of the million other things that I get excited about. Everything else will just have to wait for a while... or at least progress at a much slower pace. It's only a few short years before they're all in school and my day opens up... and a few short years after that that they are moving out and on with their lives. The front of ten, twenty years looks a lot longer, a lot bigger, than the back.

Thoughtful Avril

2011-10-03T21:10:00.001-10:00

We got home from school on a particularly hot day last week to find our handyman hard at work touching up the chipped paint on the carport. Avril was immediately fascinated and hung out watching him on the shaded side of the house, asking him questions and just generally observing the work.

I went on inside and helped Xandri get started on her homework and started puttering around tidying or doing whatever thing needed doing when Avril came back inside. I glanced out and saw that the handyman had moved around to the non-shaded side of the house. A moment later Avril slipped back outside, new umbrella in hand. I watched as she opened it up and wandered around the rock garden for a minute. She seemed to be trying to move around to stand on the wall near him, but I wasn't certain. She wasn't satisfied with her position and soon came back out of the rock garden. I had my suspicions about what she had up her sweet little sleeve, but I waited and watched it play out.

Sure enough, she moved down and stood right next to him:

As he moved, so did she to accommodate his work and tried her hardest to give him the most shade possible. She stood there with him the entire time he worked and helped him by showing him around as well. Before he left, he thanked me for my daughter's help.

You know, as far as working as a stay-at-home-mom goes, I might not make much. (Anything.) But the benefits are worth far more than any salary I could be earning elsewhere.

And the paydays are far sweeter.

I am so grateful to have this thoughtful, sweet little girl in my life, innocently teaching me what service really is. I love you, Avril.

Daddy's Cars

2011-09-30T23:54:00.000-10:00

For those who aren't aware, Derek collects things. One of the things he collects is cars. Hot Wheels to be exact. Has for years. We once counted them when we first got married. Probably 2003 I think. He had over 3000 at that time. Any guesses on how many he has today? That's a good story problem. Eight years of collecting an average of 7 cars each time he goes to a store that sells Hot Wheels. Let's estimate that to be 3 times per month.

21 cars per month.... 252 per year.... an additional 2016 cars since then? I think that might be a little low, actually.

Anyway, point of this is, Derek likes his Hot Wheels. And what better legacy could a father give his son than a love of miniature die-cast cars? I can't think of a single one. So since Roman is two, turning three in a couple months- almost a man grown, really- Derek's natural thought was that he would be impressed with his car collection.

He was right. Roman was so impressed that he can't keep his little boy hands off of Daddy's cars now. All day long after Daddy showed him his cars I would go into his room when it got quiet and find this:

At which point I would ask him in my most serious stern mommy voice where he got that car.

And he would very honestly explain that it was "Daddy's car, huh." And he just was going to "open it and see it."

At least 5 such cars suffered this fate that day.

I finally wised up and put his box of cars in the top of the closet.

Not to worry, though, Roman found both Derek's other stashes that I hadn't noticed over the next couple of days and just "opened it to see. It's Daddy's car, huh."

Batteries

2011-09-27T08:20:00.000-10:00

Roman thinks everything runs on batteries. Like, anything that doesn't work when he's trying to use it is "out of batteries". As demonstrated by this conversation we had in the car this morning.

Me: Roman, get your seat belt on!

Roman: Mom, it's out of batteries!

What I love about this kid is what you can't hear in type... the overly-loud voice he uses to declare whatever he's declaring; the half-explanatory, half-pleading tone in his statements; and the drawn out pronunciation of batt-er-weez.

In addition to batteries making anything and everything work, he also thinks that any food that has been out too long is "soggy". Obviously, this started with cereal. However, it has extended to cold, dry toast, oatmeal, pasta, eggs, or any other food that has been out long enough that he either doesn't want to eat it or he's skeptical about. I suppose this is a good thing in it's own way. And the pronunciation here, too, I love.

"Mom, it's soooggyyyyy..." with the barely hit "t" in "it's" and the drawn out final word...

We're Not Poor

2011-09-25T21:54:00.001-10:00

Driving home from the beach Friday....

Avril: Daddy, can we go to a restaurant for dinner?

Derek: No, not tonight, Avril.

Avril: Why not?

Derek: ...because we're poor.

Avril: We're not poor!

Derek: How do you know?

Avril: Because we have more than 400 money!
.... And we have lots of clothes.
.... And we live by Tripler!

I laughed and she said, "What?" and I said, "Well, you're right Avril. All of those things are true." In awe and a little bit of disbelief she said, "We really have more than 400 money? I mean, dollars?"

Not to publicly discuss the details of our financial situation, but yes, we do.

70s (& 80s) Party Zumbathon!

2011-09-18T17:08:00.000-10:00

I heart Zumba!

First, brief back story: I heard about Zumba a few years ago and SO wanted to find a class and start it up. But I couldn't find any classes locally. So I mentally shelved it and continued with yoga and kickboxing and whatevs for my workouts. Finally, I discovered a Zumba class in Logan about 6 months before we moved, went and loved it. Became a regular there and even started coordinating fun outfits for classes. Well, ok mostly just cool knee socks.

Flash forward about 8 months later and you find me searching for some way to get my work out on. Closest gym has me driving 20-30 minutes each direction, worse if there's traffic, and through the nose for child care. Or I could try places with more limited facilities and classes and no child care. Nothing that really worked for a SAHM of three with a husband in residency that I wanted to actually see when he was finally around.

Enter Zumba. I found a local teacher who taught her own classes in the school gym not far from here. Not only was she the cheapest around, she was moving her class to the school gym down the hill from my house! And on top of that, she had the funnest, craziest energy that brought out the same in me.

So when I got pregnant, I kept up my soccer and Zumba for a while. Then I started getting nervous about soccer and it got more difficult to run. And I kept thinking how horrible it would be if I belly-blocked the ball. So Zumba was my mainstay. Well, that and TurboFire, which I LOVE (thank you, Camas for introducing us).

But after a certain point (say, 7 months?), TurboFire had to take a breather, too.

So Zumba. And weights. I credit Zumba for:

-keeping the edema in my legs at bay

-holding off heartburn

-taking the jittery out of my restless legs

-keeping my abs strong which helped suck em back in after Max was born

Seriously, aside from the weight I need to lose, my stomach is nearly as flat as it was before I got pregnant-- and it's been that way for about two and a half weeks. The kid's only five weeks old!

Not to mention even though I was a little nervous about it, I was able to Zumba only a week after Max was born, and then go to the 80s party that Thursday!

And last Thursday we went to the 70s Party! Got the dress & shoes at Savers and assembled the rest at home- love it! Although I'm not sure I'm not channeling 20s a bit here, too...

Hawai'i bff and fellow Zumba addict, Heather. We're thinking quite seriously about getting certified and teaching Zumba together!

2011-09-17T19:09:00.000-10:00

Hot Hawai'i Nights

New Sneakers

Multiple Consecutive Nights Keeping Nighttime Unders Dry

Cheap Parents

1 Silly Xandri

Smoothie Mishap

2011-09-10T22:47:00.025-10:00

I decided to try a new smoothie recipe. Ginger chocolate pear smoothie sounds yum, right? Well, Roman was my helper and was excited to have the smoothie with me. So we were working on it.

And then I opened it to taste it. Huh, not so yum. So I stepped away for... I don't even remember.

Because that was when the blender got turned back on. And the lid wasn't on.

I scrambled to turn it off as quickly as possible, but the damage was done.

In addition to smoothie all over that half of the kitchen, Roman was pretty well covered as well. Wish I'd gotten a pic of his hair before I cleaned him off.

I gotta say, this was one of my acting rather than reacting moments as a parents. Gut reaction was to freak out in agitation. But instead I paused and just looked at my stunned little man. Natural consequences were all that were needed. He hadn't done it to be naughty, he was just trying to help. And he had not anticipated this as the outcome. Poor little guy burst into tears.

"Mom, I'm all dirt!" he wailed.

I consoled him, wiped him up, explained why it happened and we learned a life lesson about lids and blenders and not reacting to sudden giant messes that wind up taking half the morning to clean up. I love that kid.

He recovered.

Maximillian Kamahele Zickgraf

2011-08-28T23:00:00.001-10:00

(Max, one week before he was born)

Maximillian Kamahele Zickgraf,

due to arrive September 3rd, entered the world at 6:17pm on August 15th, at 37 weeks and 2 days, just about the same time schedule as his brother and sister before him.

The Stats:

This little peanut weighed 6 lbs 6.6 oz (sense of foreboding anyone?) and measured 18 in in length.

The Name:

Maximillian: We like Max. For some reason, it just seemed right. Maximillian turned out to be our favorite extended version.

Kama hele: Hawaiian for "the traveler"- from "kama" meaning "child" and "hele" meaning to "come, go, move or walk". We wanted to give him a Hawaiian name, something special from this island we love so much. It seemed to suit him and us- having traveled here to Hawai'i and with many travels still to come. I hope that he will have a love of traveling- and if he's anything like his brother, it will definitely fit him!

The Birth Story:

Friday, Aug 12th: low grade contractions begin to come at regular intervals and continue through the afternoon and evening, slowing and stopping when I go to bed.

Saturday, Aug 13th: more of the same. Beginning in the afternoon, around the time I was shooting engagement pics for some friends, the contractions continue as on Friday, easing at bedtime.

Sunday, Aug 14th: I awake without contractions, annoyed that things aren't progressing. Go to church and endure periodic, irregular contractions. The low grade ones become more regular in the evening, culminating in some serious contractions (like 5) that lead me to think he might show up tonight. I opt to begin laboring in the tub- the warm water helps so much that- much to my dismay- the contractions stop altogether.

Monday, Aug 15th: Still nothing. Walk to my appointment at 9am. Strip my membranes. Walk home. Minimal contractions. Nipple stimulation at 12:30-- contractions start right up. Five minutes apart and decently hard. 1pm- still going strong. I wash and hang the car seat cover to dry.

2pm- not letting up. Pick up the girls from school and midway through the 3 minute drive home I'm worried about whether or not I should still be driving.

3pm- I was gonna wait till my water broke, but I'm not sure I can take care of ALL my kids needs- some want their after school snack, and some are trying to enter the world. If these contractions hold steady or increase over the next hour, I'm going to the hospital. I call my sitter Amanda to check if she's available. She makes herself so. I finish packing my bag and reassemble the clean, dry car seat.

4pm- It's time. They're only getting harder and closer. I call Amanda and she comes right over. I text Shane (doc) and Derek to let them know, and page Derek as well. We load the kids into the car and she drives me to the hospital. I'm hoping Derek will be there to meet me at the door, but he's not and I worry the text didn't get through, but I'm pretty sure the page did.

4:30pm- I'm sitting in the waiting room of Labor & Delivery. The nurse calls me back and as I follow her I see one of the new Family Practice interns, Erica- she offers to page Derek and Shane for me. The nurse hooks me up to the monitors. Baby's heartbeat is a steady reassurance that all is well, a reminder of what these pains are for.

She asks if I'm dilated at all, I tell her I was dilated to 5cm at my appointment that morning.

5pm- I've never been happier to see any two men than I am when these two finally walk through the door. Shane checks me- I'm dilated to 7cm and about 75% effaced. The contractions are about 3 minutes apart, maybe less. It seems like less. We chat. Well, they chat. Derek comments on the strangeness of seeing me in this room where he has now seen so many patients as a doctor.

5:35pm- Shane officially admits me and we move into the actual delivery room. It seems like an hour later that Shane finally breaks my water, but in reality is probably only 15 minutes.

6pm- The contractions are really truly intense now, I struggle to remain relaxed through the pains. I'm focused on breathing, listening to that fast little froggy heartbeat. Derek holds my hands, massages my back and my hips. He's exactly where I need him to be.

6:12pm- It's time to start pushing. I push through a contraction. It lets up- so do I. Another pain builds and I push again, coaxed on by the nurse, Shane and Derek. They tell me to slow down, so I stop, then push again through their counting.

6:17pm- The sensation of the baby's head crowning and emerging, followed by his slippery little body is a strange one. The physical sensations and exhaustion mix with emotions of relief and joy- and an immediate and insistent yearning to take this child I've held within my body for nine months into my arms. They place him on my chest while still wiping the waxy, cheesy vernix from his red skin. His newborn squalls are already precious to me. There is nothing that quite compares to the feeling I have right at this moment.

I couldn't ask for a better father for my children.

Avril meets Max and falls in love immediately. She constantly wants to hold him and thinks he's the cutest thing in the world.

The girls brought gifts for me (and Max):

Max in his going home outfit (I'm glad this fit him- everything else was too big!) and new "bankie" from Grandma Zan. Slight tangent here... Roman is a "bankie" biter. For some reason he finds it incredibly fulfilling to bite the edges of all of his blankets. Maybe the ribbon binding appeals to him. Who knows. In any case, hardly a night passes that I don't have to go in to kiss an "owie" on his finger- from accidentally biting it through his "bankie". So what happens when a box full of bankies for baby Max arrives from Grandma Zan? They must be sampled, of course! He found them irresistible. I'm a little worried someone else's fingers are going to bear the brunt of the bankie biting habit.

I LOVE this owl hat that Maggie (Shane's wife) got for Max! I can't wait to do newborn shots of it!

Xandri likes Max, but I don't think she's quite as taken with him as Avril is.

It took Roman a while to warm up to Max. When he first came to the hospital with Dad, he gave Max a wide berth, not quite sure WHAT would happen if he got too close to That Baby Dad was holding. When he came back later with his sisters, though, and Xandri held That Baby, well. He wasn't to be outdone.

But seriously. What did you expect?

Things My Kids Say

2011-08-09T14:00:00.000-10:00

M: "Hey Avril, hand me that jar over there. What is that?"

A: "I don't know."

X: "Oy it could be poison. Sometimes bad people do that."

M: (laughing) "I don't think so, Xandri."

X: (with really big eyes) "No, Mom, seriously, don't laugh. It really could be poison. I think it's poison."

X (to A while driving somewhere): "Tattoos are gross. They taste like mud!"

A (said in all seriousness relieved that X's hurt isn't too bad): "At least she's not dead!"

X to D: "Daddy, do butterflies make butter?"

D: "No they don't, Xandri, cows make butter."

A few minutes later...

X: "Do butterflies make cheese?"

D: "No, cheese comes from cows, too."

X: "Do cows make everything?"

D: "No they don't Xandri."

X: "Then what do butterflies make?"

D: "Pie."

I went to quiet down a frantically whispering Avril at bedtime tonight. Apparently, Avril, who, since starting first grade, seems to have all the answers to her little sister's questions, was stumped and frustrated by several posed by Xandri tonight while in bed trying to go to sleep. The ones she asked my help with:

How do you make blood?

What's Abraham Lincoln + 100?

Buddies

2011-08-08T20:26:00.000-10:00

Roman has buddied up with the little boy I've been babysitting. They love getting into all kinds of mischief together.

And when their sisters get their nails painted, well, that's just too tempting not to join in.

So when Mom doesn't let you do it, you have no choice but to take matters into your own hands with the manliest black nail polish available and help your friend get decked out.

Sometimes more than just toes need to be painted.

My Xandri's First Day of Kindergarten!

2011-08-02T08:44:00.001-10:00

My little girl is all geared up for school! She's been chomping at the bit to go to kindergarten, so even though it freaks me out a bit that she won't turn 5 till November and she's still in kindergarten, I think she's ready.

And quite frankly, I'm ready, too. So far I'm not the mom who cries about my babies growing up. I don't know why that is. But part of it is I'm so excited for them to learn and grow and move to the next step that I don't really think about them not BEING my babies anymore. I'm not saying that the mom's who cry aren't excited for those things, too. But maybe the excitement overcomes the nostalgia in my case.

In any case, look at this adorable kid all dressed up in her new school clothes, ready to go knock 'em dead! She's such a sweetheart and such a firecracker all in one. I'd feel like a monster if I held her back another year from school!

And here she is posing with her new teacher, Mrs. Ma. I hope she really is ready. I'm so excited for her!

Potty-Training Success!

2011-07-15T14:00:00.057-10:00

We are finally officially out of diapers!

For a few weeks at least...

Yes, Roman is potty trained. At 2 1/2 years old, I think he's a little ahead- I hear most little boys potty train around 3. My girls were potty trained at 2. Kind of anyway. Xandri took a while to train and would be completely and regularly clean and dry and then something would cause her to regress and we'd have to start the whole process over. Naturally, I didn't want to deal with that again, so I put off training Roman for quite a while, even though Derek wanted me to try.

I mean, I did try once. For like a day. I used the Babywise/Pottywise method, teaching his Monkey to use the potty and then emphasizing clean and dry. But he really honestly didn't seem interested and I wasn't up to the challenge of constantly being after him to go potty. I'm pretty sure it was simply because Pull-ups weren't different enough from diapers and they were too hard to check for dryness. So I put it off- because honestly I wasn't convinced he was ready and I knew that if his heart wasn't in it then I would be the only one being trained.

Anyway, the potty chair had been out for a while. Over the next few months we prepped mentally more than anything. We bought a potty training book. We checked out some potty training books from the library. We talked about staying clean and dry. Periodically I'd ask him if he wanted to try. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't. We saw the thicker white cotton training pants at Target that I've always looked for but never seen-- and next to them big boy underwear with all the different cool characters. Spiderman, Superman, Cars... they were all forgotten once he saw Thomas the Train.

We got home and I told him the deal: once he could keep the white trainers clean and dry, he'd get a pair of Thomas unders. Every day he stayed clean and dry after that, he'd get a new pair. We still let that idea simmer for a couple of weeks (yeah, I wasn't just procrastinating the dreaded chore... it was all completely intentional.....). Finally, one day at the grocery store I decided to bite the bullet and let him choose his potty treats. Salty goldfish and sugary cookies to induce thirst, 100% fruit juice to increase opportunities to practice and reward-- and to "offset" the candy... right?

So we were finally ready: treats, unders, mental prep. I decided to just get started. We got up that morning, changed the diaper and went for breakfast. After breakfast, we got to work. Monkey needed to learn to go potty on the toilet. So with both boy and Monkey in new white trainers, we checked to see if Monkey had stayed clean and dry. Sure enough, he did! So Roman got to give Monkey some goldfish... which he helped him eat. Monkey played for a while and then we checked him again- still clean and dry! Another 5 goldfish... let's try sitting on the potty now. After a few minutes on the potty, we checked and Monkey had peed in it! Wow! More goldfish! Now Roman's turn to try. He's clean and dry-- treats. He sits on the potty-- pees! Yay! Now he gets to choose his treat! Cookie and a juice box. We set the timer for thirty minutes, then checked again for dryness, rewarded and went to the potty, rewarded again.

We repeated this process with varying degrees of success throughout the day. Sometimes he peed in the toilet, sometimes he didn't, sometimes he peed his pants. The next day he got a little better, now that he really figured out the treat deal. He'd go, ask for his treat and once he finished it, ask for another one. I told him he could have another when he peed in the potty next, so pretty soon he was running back to the potty right after finishing his treat. I think he learned to hold a bit back, silly boy. He stopped being interested in checking clean and dry after the first day, so I just stuck with rewards for going potty. We started using the sticker chart that came with the book we bought and I was surprised how excited he got with that. In fact, it helped him phaseout the treats. So by the time we ran out of treats (two or three days), he was pretty much 100% addicted to the stickers anyway. Every 10 stars (successful potty trips) he got a big bear sticker on his chart. Four lines of 10 stars and he was pretty well trained.

He also got his first pair of underwear at the end of his first day. We had a few accidents even with that as a motivator over a few days. But after about 2 weeks, we're now pretty much accident-free and I couldn't be happier about it! He's still not nighttime- or naptime- trained, but I figure he'll grow into that. Until then, nighttime unders every night. I'm so happy to be diaper-free right now! At least for a month plus some, and then back to little baby-style diapers. I can definitely handle that.

Look, Ma! No swim diaper!

Good job Roman!

Visiting the Mainland: An Essay by Avril Zickgraf

2011-06-19T17:18:00.000-10:00

I found this crumpled up somewhere. I'm so glad I did.

final draft

by Avril 5-16-11

Visiting The MainLand

Have you ever been to the mainland? I have. And it was really really fun. When I was visiting Bosie (sic) we went to Mariteen to see my Grama and Grampa Zickgraf for half a week and I had a sleepover. Then we visited Logon and my old firend alena and I played with her for 3 whole hours and Then went to Travis to visit my great Grampa and Grama Zickgraf and Then we flew for 10 hours and 3 flites and on the end of the 3rd flite my dad picked us up

I hope we can do that agen some day. And I wish we could live on the main land so we could visit Grampaes and Garamaes and cousins and firends. And I hope if my wish comes true I hope we visit the MainLand for 40 days insted of two weeks.

Intern Graduation

2011-06-19T00:11:00.000-10:00

He- we-- did it! We've all survived intern year!

The first year is officially over and Derek has graduated from intern to 2nd year resident. It's a good feeling.

The ceremony was long and graduation-like. This was particularly annoying to me since I did not receive an invitation or even a definite time or place of where it would take place or who would be involved or how to dress until the day of. From the piece-meal information I gathered, it could have been anything from a small little ceremony involving the 5 interns in the family practice program to all the interns hospital-wide.

As it turned out, I even underestimated there-- it was all interns, graduating residents and fellows hospital-wide! The ceremony had the classic speakers as well as a seemingly endless line of graduates receiving their diplomas and leis.

Why would this bother me so much? Well, the moms out there don't need to ask. Just picture- one water bottle between the four of us- that's me being "prepared"; no snacks; hot tent; no entertainment for bored kids. And no end in sight.

Thank you, Avril, my thoughtful and prepared daughter, for remembering to bring a lei for Daddy. Mom ran out of time/spaced it.

Surprisingly well-behaved.... for being bored out of their minds, thirsty, hot and hungry!

Fortunately, it was only distracting to me-- or so I assumed after receiving compliments from strangers about the excellent behavior of the midgets!

Congratulations, hon! We're so proud of you- and I'm sorry if I was cranky there at the end.... the kids sure were happy to see you!

I'm proud of you for not only surviving, but thriving- and still managing to be an amazing husband and father through it all. Here's to year two-- let it be better than year one!

Minigolf!

2011-05-29T17:52:00.001-10:00

While in Rexburg visiting the fam last month, we took the kiddos to Fat Cats and discovered a new fun pastime: miniature golf! There was a 9-hole glow in the dark course and the kids had a ball playing on it. So naturally they've been asking to go minigolfing ever since.

Derek happened to get off early on Monday, so we took family home evening to Jungle River Minigolf! The kids had a great time again, of course.

Golf Posers

Daddy tried to teach a little technique... you know, how to hold the club, how to swing, keep the long part of the putt forward. Just a few basics. Roman did pretty well with Daddy's help:

But left to his own devices...

Need I say more?

Xandri was also given a lesson... or two.... or six on how to hold her club. She kept forgetting and going back to her default- which looked so uncomfortable. Here, though, she's looking great.

Atta girl!

Avril didn't need much guidance herself and the other two looked on, impressed. Or impatiently.

She did a great job and even got a hole-in-one at the end!

After we finished our round, the kids begged for a ride on one of those quarter rides--- they had a whole row of like ten of them or something. And yeah, try three quarter rides. We only had three quarters between us, so we picked the one little carousel that would seat the three of them. It took them around and around in a circle and while Xandri & Roman got their cheap thrill, Avril was less than impressed. I can't wait till they're big enough to take on real rides!

9 Years Later....

2011-05-04T21:47:00.058-10:00

Driving to Electric Beach on the morning of our 9th anniversary, (thanks Diane for watching the kids!) Derek suggested I take the camera out to document our anniversary. I promptly obeyed.

Please enjoy the first picture taken on May 2, 2011. It will always hold a special place in our hearts.

It was shortly followed up by this one:

Since I knew it was unlikely I'd outdo those on the ride I decided to stop while I was ahead.

We went, as stated before, to Electric Beach. It's across from this electrical plant that has these vents that run out into the water. They're these giant pipes that have coral growing all over them and fish LOVE it there. Which means so do snorkelers, scuba divers, and snorkel tour boats. We saw several of each-- and some spinner dolphins out performing for some tour boats. We considered swimming out to them, but didn't know if we'd have time.

It's crazy, because the water just shoots out of these vents and it's so warm that even though you didn't think you were cold before when you get back into the normal water you have to readjust! It was crazy how many fish were there, especially how many different kinds of fish and they'd swim right up next to you. We both agreed afterward that it's the best snorkeling we've ever experienced.

This is how happy good snorkeling makes us:

Me being something like 23 weeks pregnant:

Seriously, though... how many husbands can say they still look like this after nine years of marriage, a medical degree and 3 1/2 kids?

For some reason, obviously next to the good-looking guy in the picture, I really like the boat in the background here. Not sure why.

I love you, hon. It's been a crazy nine years, with many ups and downs-- but mostly ups. I'm looking forward to every day of the rest of our lives together- to growing old and growing better with you. I can't wait to see what life brings us, but at the same time I enjoy savoring each and every one of these moments with you. We've made so many wonderful memories together and I know we have many more ahead of us. Thank you for loving me, for overlooking and forgiving my quirks and faults, for helping me grow into a better version of myself. Thank you for being my husband, my support, my lover, my provider, my companion, my partner, my best friend, my other half. When I'm with you I know we can conquer the world (if you're into that sort of thing).

Happy 9th Anniversary love!

Kayak Attempt #2

2011-04-30T20:43:00.000-10:00

Went kayaking again with Shane and Maggie. About halfway through the girls wanted to change kayaks. Yeah. Surprisingly no one got dunked!

"Don't worry you guys, I got this one."

For some reason the paddles were pretty much the funnest thing to play with that day. A little hard to keep a hold of and to wade with, but you gotta do what your sisters do.

Quick family pic after the ride. This was a tricky one to catch since we were all so hyper from the fun kayaks. I mean, Derek and I could barely hold still, much less look at the camera with a normal face long enough to get a picture. The kids were perfect angels, though and reined us in.

Kayak Attempt #1 Slash Hickam Beach with Maggie

2011-03-29T20:37:00.000-10:00

We've been eyeing up the kayaks and paddle boards available to rent for cheap at Hickam from some time now. So when we went with Maggie yesterday, we were ready.

Unfortunately, they weren't ready to rent to us. Apparently it was "too windy" that day and they weren't renting anymore for the day.

I told the guy who apologized to me about to go ahead and inform my two year old boy about the turn of events and he opted instead to let us paddle around close to the shore. Ha.

The kids loved it, of course, definitely didn't complain about not going out farther!

Roman was a bit nervous about the whole affair and spent the entire time flanked securely by Mom's legs.

Afterward I relaxed on my beach towel and soaked up some rays while Maggie made sandballs with the kids.

Cold and thirsty and back on the towel. Family photo op!

Shane showed up a little later and he and Maggie played with the kids in the water. The girls took turns clamoring for Shane to throw them into the water.

Meanwhile, Roman got chilly and came back in for a warm-up snuggle. All in all, a great day at the beach!

Sleepin On the Couch

2011-03-14T20:32:00.000-10:00

What could possibly be more fun than your very own bunkbed to sleep on every night?

The living room couch, of course!

Or in Roman's case, this ultra comfortable antique school desk. That fits him perfectly. Except for a couple inches up top. And maybe a couple at the bottom.

And it makes sense that the littlest girl sleep on the biggest couch,

while the biggest girl curl up cozily on the chair.

Doesn't her neck look so comfortable?

Phantom Baby

2011-03-14T20:27:00.000-10:00

Phantom Baby came back.

And turned into Real Baby.

That's right, I'm pregnant with our fourth little keiki!

Oh, and if Phantom Baby doesn't make sense to you... allow me to explain real quick. A while after each kid has been born, a "phantom baby" shows up in my head. Phantom Baby makes appearances when I'm somewhere and both/all kids are accounted for and I begin wondering where/how the baby is- when I realize all at once that the baby is right here with me. All my babies are.

Now, Phantom Baby could just be a result of being a mom with more than one kid. You're constantly doing a head count with three and up.

But my theory (which coincidentally has a lot to do with my religious beliefs) is that Phantom Baby is really the spirit of our next child hanging around reminding me that it's his/her turn to come to earth to join our family. That there is another to for whom to feel concern or to whom to give attention. So Phantom Baby showed up a couple months before I got pregnant.

And now Phantom Baby is Real Baby.

Who will be here September 3rd.

And who I think is a girl- but I'm basing that on scientific data like the intensity of my morning sickness. So we'll see soon I guess. Baby Zickgraf is on the way in any case!

Avril Loses a Tooth

2011-02-15T20:29:00.012-10:00

She's finally crossed the threshold from baby to big girl--- or at least begun the process! Yeah, she'll always be my baby. Every mom out there knows that.

What's funny is her adult teeth began growing in behind her baby teeth before they fell out. We call them her shark teeth. Hello Tooth Fairy!

Derek Turns 31 and We Go to Makaha

2011-02-05T20:09:00.000-10:00

Yup, you get a two-for-one deal in this post. Derek's birthday coincided with the Family Practice Retreat this year which took place at Makaha Resort on the north west side of the island. I got him some semi-lame presents and we pretty much just did the retreat. We'll try harder next year.

We only got a few photos at the retreat. It was fun, Makaha Resort was actually quite beautiful, although our room was somewhat run-down and the buffet wound up being rather ridiculously overpriced. The retreat included a bbq, a bounce house, a hike we missed but sounded fun, pool time and some golf and basketball we also missed.

My favorite part was pool time, for obvious reasons:

Yes, that's right, it's a monofin, folks. And that's me giving tutorials on how to use it. I would definitely say it was quite a hit!

The Boys Come to Hawai'i Part Une

2011-01-28T15:50:00.007-10:00

Weston just got back from his two year LDS mission in Kentucky and since Derek hadn't seen him since he left (well, actually he serendipitously bumped into him in an odd turn of events about a year ago in Kentucky while on his way to Philadelphia- who knew?!), we welcomed him back home with tickets to Hawai'i.

He was pretty happy about that.

Ewa Beach.

Weston's first time boogie boarding.

Sand throwing war.

There were actually shots fired on both sides, but apparently I didn't catch any of Weston at Derek, so it looks like he's just picking on his little bro.

Makapu'u Beach.

More boogie boarding. Weston is falling in love.

With island living.

See that pure joy on his face?

Or something.

Yeah, I don't know what I was making this face for.

For some reason I like it though.

Roman started climbing around on the rocks behind us on the beach and when we looked up, he gave us a baby dance.

He's got some killer moves.

Along with Weston, the bros decided it would be a great time to make it a bro trip- so Carson & Calli decided to come on out, too. It was a sad, sad day the day of their flight, though. Ranger had gotten sick... and he wasn't improving. So Calli made the call to stay home with him- but sent Carson on with Sean taking her place. While we were definitely sad that Calli and Ranger were left behind, Sean definitely brings his own brand of energy and fun to the table.

So when they got here Thursday night, it was, of course, magic time. I welcomed them with some ono ahi and steamed rice. Friday began the Hawai'i fun. I chilled at home with the kids (read: no photographer for the day's exploits) while the guys went up to Pounders to experience some hardcore boogie boarding and some body surfing. They actually got some good footage of that, but I don't have access to those videos-- yet.

After being sufficiently beaten and broken by the raging tide, they continued up to North Shore, stopping to eat at the Hukilau Cafe in La'ie, to check out waves at various beaches along the way (all were closed to the public because the waves were too big--- like 20-30 feet. Yeah.), and walked around the Dole Plantation eating fruit and getting bored of the obvious tourist trap that place is. Topped off the evening with malasadas and new magic cards and then headed home for some of my delicious southwestern wraps.

Saturday brought the Tripler Ridge hike- a daunting 5 1/2 hour long hike up and over the mountain behind Tripler, along the ridge, and down the Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs). You may remember that we did the Stairway when Sean came last October.

We did not at that time, however, run into a successful boar hunter on the way up- or down- the stairs.

What.

Oh and by the way Carson, we have your shirt here. And the blue and white one. They'll be held hostage until you and Calli come to claim them.

Is it just me, or does Derek's face look a little too trusting- and Sean's a little too... devious?

West-side side-hill jumping. He's back.

Guava!

Yeah. This picture is oriented correctly.

And yeah. That line down there is the H-3.

Note how tightly Weston's gripping the rail. Something about this shot really captures how dizzying it really is on the Stairway.

Dirt lines.

It was a muddy hike.

Rinse in the ocean, head to Maui Taco for lunch (mango BBQ pork- yum!), and meet back here for Part Deux at Kailua Beach.

The Boys Come to Hawai'i Part Deux

2011-01-27T22:44:00.010-10:00

So picking back up where we left off after lunch, we headed over to Kailua. I was actually having serious doubts since it was windy and a bit chilly, and sure enough, I spent the time at the beach huddled in a towel watching the kids.

The girls, however, didn't waste any time in getting ready for the water.

Meanwhile, the boys played on their boogie boards in the waves- it took a bit of convincing for Sean and Carson to get Derek and Weston to join them in the water, but eventually they were all out there and insisting the water was warmer than the air. I thought about joining, but Roman was pretty busy. And then he gave me a "special" job to clean up. So yeah, that took up some time since I left the diapering stuff in the car which was parked clear down the beach.

Next day was stake conference and I was singing in the stake choir, so I went while the boys chilled at home with the kids and watched some football. By the time I got back, they were hungry and wanting to get out of the house, so I made some yummy Chicken fra diavolo with Lemon Spaghetti (thanks to Melody and Eugena for the killer recipes) which everyone loved.

Then Sean and Carson and I headed to Waikiki for some surf fun. Longboarding, as Sean puts it, is like yoga for people who like meat. I totally agree. Super fun and chill. It was nice to get out and enjoy some time childless and carefree and revel in God's creations. The ocean was gorgeous, the view was fantastic and the whole afternoon was fantastic. Afterwards we grabbed some pineapple burgers at Kua'aina Burger, dripping with Teriyaki goodness.... mmmm.

Next day I got Avril out of school and we headed to Hanauma Bay for Weston's first snorkeling experience. Hanauma is nice because you're almost guaranteed to see cool fish there any time you go.

On the other hand, you're also guaranteed to join a LOT of tourists flipping around getting sunburns in huge groups in the water-- scaring the fish into more shallow (read less accessible) coral areas. I don't blame them. I got scared, too. The other thing was maybe it was too early in the day, but the water was COLD. And for some reason, I had a hard time catching my breath in my mask. So it wasn't such an enjoyable trip for me, even though it was definitely fun going out with Avril- (she'd get really excited and frantically point things out to me)

"Ma! 'nurkle!"

We didn't get any further than this.

but Weston was pretty excited and happy about it, so mission accomplished.

Carson likes snorkeling.

After snorkeling, we headed up around to Sandy's and the surf was the calmest I've ever seen it there. Nothing I'd let my kids play in, of course, (they did play in it when it washed a little higher up the beach, but honestly it made me so nervous) so it wasn't quite as enjoyable for me, but the guys had a blast playing in the waves and I got some more great footage here... but left the camera in the car :(. Sorry guys! Hopefully I can get some of those videos to post.

After Sandy's we went on up to Kaneohe for some Genki's sushi. It was wonderful, of course, and Carson and Weston's first time. They loved it and are now sushi fans.

Tuesday morning... last one here. Weston leaves Tuesday night, Carson and Sean first thing Wednesday morning.

So first order of business: breakfast at Eggs 'n Things. Amazing. Carson got an ahi steak that was so tender and juicy and flavorful.... Derek got sour cream and dark cherry crepes that were heavenly.... Sean got a sausage omelet that looked positively scrumptious with a side of chocolate chip pancakes covered in coconut syrup... Weston got the mandarin orange French toast- he didn't care for the oranges, but the French toast was mouth-watering...

I got the spinach and bacon omelet with a side of chocolate chip pancakes covered in coconut syrup as well--- you can't go wrong with that--- and shared them with Xandri and Roman...

After breakfast, it was time for more surfing. We went straight out to the beach and wound up paddling all the way back to where we were the first day for some waves. We all got up several times and had a great time doing it. The waves weren't as consistent as on Sunday, and the water while we paddled out a little more choppy, so Weston was a little disappointed in it. But I think the rest of us had a great time.

Derek was awesome and offered to watch the kids while I took a board out and they enjoyed some time in the water, too.

She's practicing surfing already.

By the time we got back though, Avril had already been out of school waiting for me for twenty minutes-- and by the time we picked her up, the poor kid had waited an hour. She knew we'd be a while, though, so it wasn't too bad for her. I hope.

We headed home to regroup and everyone was so wiped out that we all just kinda crashed. After a while, the boys headed to the NEX to pick up some souvenirs and got some fantastic host gifts- a new bamboo lined mirror for the guest room (which I've been wanting- thanks Derek for tipping them off and thank you thank you THANK YOU Carson and Weston for getting it!) Sean claims to have gotten me a stylus for my iPad, but I have yet to see it. I haven't yet decided whether to give him credit for it ;).

Thanks guys, for a great visit! We're so glad you came out. We had such a great time and definitely hope to see more of your smiling faces!

Camas Comes to Hawai'i

2011-01-14T20:09:00.057-10:00

So Camas and Matthias came to Hawai'i for a vacay-visit this past week. It was great to have them out here, and we had a blast staycationing with them!

Started out with some fun at the Sheraton pool downtown... I think. Can't remember which pool it was exactly. The girls brought their mermaid fins, but spent most of the time going down the slide...

as I did at least once as well (pictured after successfully disembarking the slide)

It was fun, but I was feeling a touch queasy, so a little less playful than I might otherwise have been.

and hanging out in the hot tub with the Asian tourists,

while Matthias teased Roman. Or maybe Roman teased Matthias. It wasn't too clear.

Matthias had to get back to work after a few days, but fortunately for us Camas had a bit more time, so we did what we could to make the most of it! Among other things, we made sure to visit turtle beach (Laniakae Beach I believe is the official name. North Shore, about 5 min past Hale'iwa depending on traffic).

Xandri obviously loved Camas and showed it in her usual spider-monkey way. Please notice "Bok-bok" the Parrot Finger Puppet hiding behind Camas' neck there.

Roman spent his time like a typical male, just walkin' around, checkin' stuff out (you know I'm rehearsing the Seinfeld skit in my head now...)

There were a few turtles on the beach that day, so it was definitely fun to see what they were up to. Typical turtle stuff, it turned out. Highly fascinating.

We had such a great time at the Sheraton pool that we decided to hit it up again. This time Roman brought his truck:

and Camas brought my book:

A trip to Hawai'i isn't complete without the North Shore, Kailua and fresh fruit from the Dole Plantation. We hit all of those up. Kailua especially was a hit- as always!

Fantastic beach book. I'll vouch for that.

So glad my cuz came out for a visit, it was great to spend some quality time with you, Camas! Miss you already!

Guest-Ready

2010-12-31T15:48:00.042-10:00

Remember this room?

We made it into this- ready for our first two guests:

And now, we've made it into this:

I love it, especially with that dingy yellow gone. I'd have liked a little more color in here, but I suppose beggars can't really be choosers-- or in this case, renters can't. But white is better than yellow and I like the effect we've pulled together.

I'd like to add more color and wall decor, particularly here over the sofa, but as it stands I think I like what we've done with the place... The white and green combine in such a refreshing way and the brown really brings a comfortable warm feel to the room. I hope our guests like it as much as I do!

Christmas Day

2010-12-29T20:48:00.001-10:00

Christmas morning, like every other household anticipating Santa, dawned early- earlier than either of the parents in this house wanted it to anyway. To prevent the kids from rushing headlong into the living room to inspect Santa's proffered gifts, we closed our shoji door. It's made of paper-- that'll be ample protection, right? Well, stop anticipating something dreadful, it was and the door's fine.

So we all got up (at who knows what hour) and dove right in---

The one bummer about Christmas morning was the lack of decent lighting. Forgive the unfocused pictures.

Roman loves watching the garbage truck come every week... so naturally Santa hooked him up with his very own. It was a hit.

He wouldn't be a boy if he didn't love weapons and violence. Of course, that being said, the girls each got these little guns too and they ran around shooting things and each other. After spending a considerable amount of time and frustration trying to figure out how to load them anyway.

The girls loved their wings. And we started watching the Harry Potter movies, so naturally I knew we had to have the books. I mean, Santa knew.

Does this even need a caption?

Our oh-so-thoughtful neighbors, Jimmy and Mei gave each of the kids gifts as well. This train was perfect.... the boy LOVES trains. Who am I kidding... anything with wheels!

I've been promising for quite some time (years?) to turn our blog into books. So I worked my butt off and got the first year of the blog put into book format just in time for Christmas. I don't think I've ever managed a gift that garnered this big of smile/reaction! I had one printed for my dad and Wayne and Zan as well.

As much as he loves things with wheels, this is a boy who really loves a good gecko. Avril capitalized on that and hooked him up with what I think was his absolute favorite- gauging by the time he spent playing and the number of times he said "Deh-doh!"

I think everyone got a turn being "gotten" by the "deh-doh!"

Derek scored some major points for his gadget/tech-loving wife here... I'm loving it already and spent a good deal of the day finding awesome apps to download and play with. I'm so excited to tap into this thing- but a little overwhelmed and worried I won't maximize it's potential! Doesn't make me love it any less, though...

I told you everyone got "got" by the "deh-doh"!

Little faery princesses out for a trial flight and some magic.

Last year Christmas seemed pretty anti-climactic after the morning madness. I decided that like most things in life it should be remedied with food. Yes, that's right. I'm a commie cause I didn't do a big Christmas dinner. Well stop judging me, because I've reformed my anti-American/Christian ways and knocked myself out this year making this:

(Go ahead and go grab a napkin so you don't ruin your computer for heaven's sake. It's the internet. We'll wait for you.)

It was so fun to get to use the china and fancy up the kitchen. I haven't been cooking as much as I used to lately since it's so hot, so that was fun, too!

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm so grateful for this wonderful holiday, the opportunity to give and share with family. We definitely miss ours this holiday season and wish we didn't have an ocean between us. And more than anything I'm grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who was willing to send his perfect Son to us to lead us back to Him.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-27T16:48:00.000-10:00

I wanted to do something fun for Christmas Eve, so for breakfast I used an idea I found in my email: Santa pancakes. I think they were a hit:

Well, after he finished his banana anyway. I actually think the kids didn't quite know what to do with them.

That night we read the Christmas Story in Luke 2 and talked about the Savior coming to earth. Derek does such a good job teaching our kids the scriptures. He is really such a good daddy to them.

After they went to bed (being reminded that Santa doesn't come if you're awake- and he always knows), they were sure to leave their stockings out and their shoes under the tree for the elves (a tradition carried on from Derek's family- if you leave your shoes under the Christmas tree, every night until Christmas if you were good that day you get a treat in your shoe!), Derek and I of course went to relax and let Santa do his job.

When we finally came upstairs, we saw that he'd come and left a bounteous supply of gifts behind:

Santa knows how much we all like snacks and drinks just as much as we like presents, so he was sure to leave plenty.

And look! He left me a monofin!

Thanks Santa! We couldn't wait till Christmas morning so the kids could see all the fun Santa had left for us.

Christmas from Avril

2010-12-16T22:21:00.000-10:00

She couldn't actually wait till Christmas itself to give me (well, us) our present. She couldn't even wait until Derek got home from work actually. Right after school, she eagerly presented me with this envelope:

Inside was this card:

Inside the card was this loving note:

And finally our gift was included- a year long calendar with her cute picture and a sample of her adorable artwork. Our family is so cute :)

Christmas: Gingerbread Fun

2010-12-16T21:27:00.000-10:00

We (Xandri, Roman and I) got together with our friend Heather for some festive gingerbread decorating. I'll give you three guesses who decorated and who ate the decorations.

It reminded me of when I was a kid and every year my mom would help us decorate gingerbread houses. Mostly what I remember is how awesome hers always turned out. They were so cool-looking and detailed I didn't ever WANT to break and eat them! I remember she'd even do a little mailbox and the windows would be all pretty and scrolly and even the eaves had perfect little icicles hanging from them.

Mine didn't exactly turn out like that. They were a lot more gloppy. So I tried to cover them up with candy.

Heather gave it to us to take home and enjoy, so that night we decided to get down to business.

Avril had no problem eating our creation:

And then we all dug in, leaving not much in our wake. It was pretty good, but here's where I put in a plug for my mom's gingerbread recipe-- sooo much better!

I loved decorating with the kids so much I thought it would be a great preschool activity for them. I found these graham crackers that were made of gingerbread for that purpose exactly and thought, "What could be more perfect?" So I rounded up what random candy we had around the house (not much, truth be told), made some icing and we went to work.

That look of intense concentration isn't just for placing the marshmallow just so. It's just as much to not EAT the marshmallow just yet.

Even though Avril is in school during preschool hours, she loves doing the activities the kids do. This one was certainly no exception and she dove right in with finesse. And appetite.

The Haircut: Xandri-style

2010-12-16T20:25:00.014-10:00

A picture is worth a thousand words they say. This one tells a little story about a little girl and some scissors. And the mom who tried to fix it.

Is anyone under any impression that she somehow learned a valuable lesson from this experience? Or just biding her time till the next one?

Buried Sand Babies

2010-12-14T20:21:00.048-10:00

Went up to the beach across from Dillingham Airfield this weekend with Heather and Jason. Brought a cooler full of yummy snacks and drinks and our boogie boards to play in the waves. It was a pretty perfect day.

The snacks were a huge hit of course. I'm still not sure why the beach makes food so much more fun. Of course, maybe it's more that we bring the fun food to the beach, so the kids go for it since they don't usually get those snacks otherwise....

Crazy Xandri dancing with her string cheese...

So we all played in the water and snacked and hung out. Meanwhile, however, Derek was busy with his latest devious scheme...

His unwitting victims stood by, watching him work, little realizing the part they would play in his evil plot.

At first, all was fun and games...

But all too soon, he realized his mobility was severely impaired. Avril seemed unaffected by her imprisonment. In fact, I might go so far as to say she enjoyed it... strange, strange little girl.

At last the deed was complete, his prisoners secured in their sabulous immuration.

At long last (about two minutes later), the piteous cries softened their captor's callous heart.

Upon his release, his mood now greatly improved, the young captive capered about the hole, taunting it... but remained cautious.

His cellmate was yet unaffected by the ordeal and just seemed pleased to resemble a snickerdoodle. Slightly more accustomed to her father's antics, she regarded the shenanigans with good humour.

Cute Girly Hairs

2010-12-05T20:11:00.008-10:00

Over the summer I started doing the girls' hair in cute ways for fun since we had so much time in our hotel. And now church doesn't start till 3, so we have ample time to get all fancy in the mornings! Derek thought I should start documenting some of the cute styles, so here are some I did this Sunday...

Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T10:20:00.001-10:00

Sucked.

No family.

Dinner at Schofield mess hall with people from work. Not that the people were a problem.

Mess hall holiday- never again. Or at least now I know what to expect.

Bucket Babies

2010-11-29T23:56:00.000-10:00

Because when your kid fits inside a pot, you put him in it.

And then you put him up on high surfaces.

Like the fridge.

And when your brother gets put in a pot...

...and stuck up on top of things, well.

What did you think would happen?

Fun at Hickam

2010-11-28T20:21:00.021-10:00

We went to Hickam Beach with our friends April and Jayna and had a great time playing in the sand and the water. Avril and Jayna are in the same first grade class together and have become fast friends.

Roman's still a bit nervous about the water, but he loves the sand.

Derek, being the good doctor he is, brought along the American Journal of Family Medicine to keep up on all the studies being done in the field.

The girls obviously all need to be buried in the sand now.

So I decided to put the camera down for a bit and help out... my little sand merbaby!

It all started out innocently enough....

... but when Daddy is involved, mischief happens....

...which quickly escalates...

and spreads...

La'ie Temple Open House Slash North Shore Day with Friends

2010-11-26T20:11:00.058-10:00

So the La'ie Temple has been closed for renovations for two years now. Sure glad we came in on the tail end of that!

The Open House ran during the last two weeks of October and the first two of November, and we felt like it was a great opportunity to share some of our beliefs and just the beauty and the spirit at the temple with some of our friends who might not have another chance to experience it.

I'd never actually been to a temple open house myself, so I didn't quite know what to expect. As it was, I really enjoyed walking through the temple and seeing it with our friends and the kids, especially the Celestial Room. When we got in there, Xandri pointed to the chandelier and whispered (somewhat loudly) to me, "I wish that was in our house." So do I, honey, so do I.

It was interesting to me, because I also didn't know what to expect to feel. When I go to the temple normally, I feel the Spirit so strongly, and there is such a peace and a reverence. If I am in a particularly good frame of mind, it's truly an amazing experience. The open house wasn't the same. I enjoyed it- it was beautiful, I felt the peace and reverence of the temple, but I didn't feel the spirit to the degree I normally do. I hope in any case it was enjoyable for our friends and they were able to learn a little bit about our temples and their purpose. It was such a good reminder of why we have them and the importance of families, and it was wonderful to share that with our children.

Afterward, we took our friends up to La'ie Point to wander and check things out and then headed up to Ted's Bakery for lunch, which was delicious. Crab BLT anyone? Yes PLEASE!

My awesome friend Arren and her hubby, Jeremy:

Heather (or Heddy if you're Xandri)

Heddy, me and Xandri.... such a familiar site! For those who don't know, this was the view off our lanai for the semester we went to BYU-H some 8 years ago.

Bucket Babies

2010-11-25T22:46:00.000-10:00

When a little boy sees a bucket, he climbs in.

When that boy's dad sees him in a bucket, he puts him on top of things.

Like hutches.

And refrigerators.

When little girls see little brothers in buckets on hutches and fridges, they clamber for their turn.

And beg their daddies to put them on hutches, too.

Happy Birthday Xandri & Roman!

2010-11-20T20:41:00.002-10:00

Ok, before I hear it from everyone who had to share a birthday party with a sibling who's birthday was like a week apart from their own, please note that this is not a tradition that will continue past the age where it starts sucking. For now.... just imagine a two year old watching a four year old (keep in mind he's almost as big as she is physically. In his mind, they're equals.) open presents, get toys and treats and lots of attention. And then the four year old watching her brother get all that a couple days later. I'm absolutely positive this is how that tradition started in most families-- it was simply more practical and actually easier on both kids to share the birthday celebrations.

It was honestly a rocky week for birthdays though. Xandri had been asking when it was her birthday for about a month and then Derek kept getting home late at night. We hadn't decided to celebrate their birthdays together until a day or two before (or maybe even the day of), so Xandri knew when we were SUPPOSED to celebrate her birthday and wasn't too happy when we postponed. But she had also been running a bit of a fever earlier that week... which Roman caught and it was really bad for him. Wheezing, croupy cough, 104 degree fever at night... I was really worried and very grateful he had a doctor daddy. He could stay at home in his bed and get better rest than he would at the hospital (as would we) and still have a doctor monitoring him. So combined birthday week was a bit unorganized and stressful since I didn't even know if Roman would be up to celebrating!

We intended to celebrate on Thursday, but with the sickness and the schedule, it happened on Saturday instead. We just kept it simple and instead of wrapping presents, did the present treasure hunt. It was a hit. Of course, once Roman found his first present, he was happy and had no need to keep looking. It took quite a lot of convincing to get him to realize there were more. Maybe we shoulda saved em for Christmas....

Xandri, on the other hand, had no problem grasping the concept of multiple presents hidden around the room and immediately fell in love with a few favorites-

a giant Pegasus My Little Pony with gorgeous hair to brush and comb and play with, as well as a Hello Kitty purse Daddy picked out for her (he actually handled the birthday shopping this year and he really nailed it)

Truck number two

Showing off her new "Dolly & Me" dress set

Avril found Roman's dragon

Figuring out how to shoot the thing

Hey, where'd it go?

Thanks Grandpa Jackson!

Xandri loves her stuffed weasel and of course the Teddy Grahams are a hit like always.

A screaming monkey. Great. Just what I need. And of course he loves it.

Just like he loves his Happy Meal toy, The Thing.

Which yells "Iiiiiit's CLOBBERIN TIME!" everytime you hit it against something. Like my face.

This is actually a while after their birthdays, but I had Xandri bring her money (thanks to Grandma Zan and Auntie Camas for a combined whopping $30 spending money!!) to the Swap Meet to pick out some fun things and this is what she chose:

(Please note that she also got a necklace with a cute little slipper on it which she promptly lost. Upon finding it, she realized that now the necklace itself is lost.)

Oh and she couldn't even think about anything else she wanted until she had that Dora the Explorer phone. Nothing else was worth giving that up.

Soccer Fun

2010-11-18T20:12:00.013-10:00

Derek's been playing soccer on Tuesdays at Tripler after work with some of the doctor's in family practice. He's been trying to convince me to come play for some time, and so I finally broke down and came out.

Now keep in mind, I haven't played since... well, probably 2nd grade? And by playing I mean running around the field with a huge knot of kids until I got bored and decided to sit and pick clovers instead.

So I had no expectations for any spectacular level of play from myself. Mostly run around and know who my team is. And if I kicked the ball, all the better! I had no shame, and it's a good thing, too.

Anyway, after a few weeks of playing, I was enjoying it and improving my game, coming regularly and having fun getting to know people Derek works with. So we decided it might be worth it to snag me some cleats. After about two hours of soccer gear shopping, we came away with a little more than just cleats:

That's right, Holland and Spain soccer-stylin. I must say our game has improved since getting all decked out. Is it just the cleats--- or the whole outfit? I suppose we'll never know...

Halloween

2010-11-06T16:42:00.000-10:00

I had big plans for Halloween this year. I was gonna hit every haunted house/attraction I could find. Halloween crafts all week long, Halloween meals, jack-o-lanterns, fun kids outings, the whole bit.

Well, the month slid by... it came down to the last week and I hadn't hit a single haunted house yet. Derek's on one of his more annoying rotations that has him up at 5:30 and home at 5:30, so he's always tired and not interested in haunted anything.

And I find myself halfway through the week and my babysitters are all going to be at a Halloween party- together. Not that I expected to get anyone-- I mean, c'mon, it's Halloween. What kid doesn't have plans?

So at this point, I decide to pour all my Halloween effort into Friday and Saturday. Friday morning is Avril's Halloween book parade--- dress up as a character from a book and bring the book and march around the school twice while all the parents cheer their kids on.

Avril's costume for Halloween this year is a devil costume. Know any good childrens books about devils? Yeah, me neither. So we opted for the easier route-- a Cinderella costume which she already had for a Cinderella (ok, princess) book she already had.

Isn't my little girl beautiful?

I didn't use enough hairspray or something, because by the time her parade was to start (30 min later), her hair looked like this. Oh, well. She's still so stinkin' cute.

So that night my plan was to hit IHOP for their free Scary Face Pancakes for kids under 12 and then the mermaid show at the Princess Kaiulani Hotel.

Well, neither of those things happened, but we did miraculously find a sitter (a friend of mine hooked us up. How awesome is she?!), so we took advantage of a Halloween date night and got delicious sushi and went to Zombie Prom. Classic love story-- boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love. Parents forbid girl to see boy, girl breaks up with boy, boy commits suicide in local nuclear power plant. Girl mourns boy, boy comes back to life as zombie, campaigns for equal rights for zombies so he can graduate high school and take his girlfriend to prom.

If you ever get the chance to see it, you should. Definitely made for a fun date night.

Saturday morning we got up, made our own scary pancakes (the kind of scary pancakes that it takes about three guesses to figure out what it's supposed to look like and why it's scary) and got dressed.

Borders was "supposedly" doing a Halloween activity with scary stories, a puppet show, a craft and a parade. So we showed up all dressed up and made up and all excited....

and ok, an hour or so late... and of course missed it. I thought with all that stuff we might at least catch the parade by then, but no such luck. Maybe the wrong Borders? Anyway, I let the girls pick out a few books and used my coupon (40% off!) and went home, pretty let down and tired...

By the time we got home, Xandri was asleep, Roman was still napping, Derek was still watching football and Avril wasn't too happy because the day hadn't been fun enough yet.

So we discussed what to do with the rest of the time-- trick or treating and festival thing at Aloha Tower or jack-o-lantern carving and no more driving until the ward trunk-or-treat slash potluck. She opted for jack-o-lanterns and trunk-or-treat, so we got out the pumpkin and she designed the face and I cut it out.

By the time I finished, I was done with Halloween. I got my expectations up too high and tried too hard (well, ok, hard, but not hard enough since they fell through from my own lack of planning) to do all these extra special things that the kids didn't really care about. And then ran out of energy when the day wound down to what they really did want to do.

But I pulled it together anyway and we went to the trunk-or-treat slash potluck (about thirty minutes late which didn't improve my mood any) but when we got there....

"Look at the camera, Roman!"

Xandri made this face BEFORE Daddy said "Silly faces!"

Silly Faces

And why was Roman missing from the previous pictures?

Ahh..... here we go....

The sole picture I got of Derek that actually turned out. Hawaiian pirate. Meaning pirate top, bottom in flipflops and cargo shorts.

and found that we were actually quite fashionably late and it was an easy, laid-back affair (c'mon, where did I think I was? We're in Hawai'i!) I let it all go and enjoyed the potluck (I was a taker this time, I'll admit it) while the kids ran around with their friends and played on the playground equipment.

When it was time for the trunk-or-treat, there weren't many cars, but they had a lot of candy. By the time the kids were done and we left, I think every kid had gone around to each car at LEAST five times. Which worked out fine for us since that was pretty much the only trick-or-treating they got in this year.

All in all, Halloween was fun for the kids, which is the most important thing in my book. It was disappointing and stressful for me (except the things we actually did), but ended well.

So, if I DO have any lurkers out there, you know, you people who read my blog but never comment, I'm asking you to step out of the shadows and give me your ideas. What do you do to make holidays and birthdays special? What kind of traditions do you have for special days, any of them really, but Halloween specifically?...... Bueller?..... Bueller?.....

Nic's Visit to the Sandwich Isles

2010-10-20T13:33:00.000-10:00

So my lil' bro Nic came out to visit us- well, actually he was going to try and find a job and a place and move here for a few months before school started in January- but unfortunately had to go home after three weeks of unsuccessful searching.

In any case, we tried to make his time here enjoyable and even extracted some babysitting from him while he was here- thanks Nic.

First beach we hit up was Hickam AF Base beach-- simply because it's easy to get to and easy to take the kids to.

Roman and his manly buzz cut.

Watching airplanes take off. Another perk of the beach- we're RIGHT next to the runway and the kids LOVE that.

Next big thing- the KBay Air Show. Tons of people, tons of cool airplanes, both parked and flying around and plenty of vendors selling yummy food. We met my friend Heather there and we all walked around, checking stuff out. I'll do another post for that with a few more pics.

Nic caught this shot-- I can't take credit. Super cool, eh? Actually, while we're on the subject I think he took a lot of these pics, but they were all combined with mine.

(c)Roman!!

We spent a day up on the North Shore, and of course hit up Matsumoto's Grocery for some shave ice. You can't come to Hawai'i and not.

Roman was good at sharing.

Next stop, Laniakae Beach, home of the international honu (Hawaiian for turtle) preserve or something like that. About 26-28 sea turtles live in this little bay and periodically come up on the beach to warm up and dry out, staying anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days.

You can also snorkel in the water and while you can't touch the turtles on the beach, if they come up to you in the water, you don't have to retreat-- go ahead and make a new friend! Btw, I love how in this picture it becomes impossible to tell the difference between the ocean and the sky...

The girls were all up and down the beach checking things out, looking for hermit crabs and climbing on the rocks. They loved it.

Roman pretty much stuck to playing in the sand-- as usual.

Also checked out the temple in La'ie. Gorgeous, of course, and this is the view going down the steps.

And since Nic's visit overlapped a bit with Sean's, some cool pics and fun things were in that post.

It was a bummer to see him go. It would have been awesome if he'd been able to find a job here, I felt like I didn't show him enough of Hawai'i while he was here because I thought he'd have more time to explore it himself! Oh well. You'll be out here again if I know you like I think I do.

A Thousand Words

2010-10-19T16:44:00.004-10:00

A typical photo series at our house.

Any questions?

I Don't Know Either

2010-10-19T16:41:00.004-10:00

Aug 2nd: Avril's First Day of School

2010-10-19T15:57:00.006-10:00

I've been trying to organize my photos and ran across these and realized I never posted Avril's first day of school!

Sorry hon!

I suppose it's appropriate in some ways that I'm writing this blog today, my first ever Parent-Teacher Conference for the first quarter.

Anyway, it's a little atypical because Avril's first day of school was not her first day of kindergarten. Allow me to introduce you to my first grader!

Since Avril's birthday is the beginning of August, I had opted to start her in kindergarten this year so she would be the oldest in her class instead of the youngest. But then we moved to Hawai'i where the cutoff is December. So when I attempted to enroll her in kindergarten, the vice principal informed me she would be in 1st grade. Naturally I was concerned since that's a whole year of school she just missed. On the other hand, she's had two years of preschool. And she's really smart. And she will fit in better with her peers since first grade will include kids up to 4 months younger than her, while in kindergarten she would be four months older than the oldest kid in there. In addition, the vp's questions about Avril's academic prowess (can she write her name? count to 20? print her alphabet?) reassured me that if that's all they covered in kindergarten she would be just fine in first grade.

Anyway, we decided that since Hawai'i schools are reputed to be behind mainland schools, we might as well go with it and put her in first grade and see how she did.

Doesn't she look excited? This is the mural by the cafetorium (yes, I finally figured it out: cafeteria+auditorium=cafetorium). Isn't it adorable?

She was really nervous for school. So of course I did the natural thing and took her shopping for cute new clothes, the classic Brand New Outfit for her First Day of School.

It actually really helped.

Sitting at her new desk with her fresh school supplies and soon-to-be friends.

Xandri and Roman were very interested and jealous of all the cool new things their big sister get to check out and play with and learn.

And how did Avril's mom do?

You know, I never thought I'd be a mom who'd cry on the first day of school.

And then I started thinking I might be a mom who cried on the first day of school.

Those of you who know me... what do you think?

Meanwhile, Avril's report card has gone from not reading at all (K.0 level reading) to passing kindergarten (K.3 level reading) since the first of the year. That's some serious progress. I've been blown away by how quickly she's picked everything up. The other kids had learned a LOT more in kindergarten than the vp had led me to believe. She tutors every Tues and Thurs after school to work on reading and writing. She's proficient if not excelling in math, proficient and progressing well in science and proficient in social studies. Her PE teacher loves her. She gets along well with all the students, performs well in class and communicates well. I get comments from perfect strangers when I go to her school about what a great kid she is, how obedient and well-behaved she is. I'm so proud of her and how much she's progressed in so many ways. She loves school, her teacher and her friends and answers my daily question in the same way every time,

"How was school today, Avril?"

*blissful sigh* "Perfect!"

A Sean-Filled Weekend: The Rest of the Time

2010-10-18T22:22:00.005-10:00

Ok, so I'm cheating a little and putting pics of my kiddos in this post. Because even though the weekend was Sean-filled, they didn't stop being cute.

Xandri- post beach. She was cold and kinda tired and so naturally....

Waimea Beach was naturally the next necessary beach to hit.

Roman got right to work in the sand.

There were waves to play in and a rock to jump off of. I confess I was really worried about the girls playing in the water this time. It was quite placid for Waimea and this time of year, but the shorebreak was still pretty decent, and they weren't used to the waves breaking so close and so powerfully. So, naturally they ran out to the water with gleeful, reckless abandon.

This pic makes me giggle ever time I see it...

I love these shots for three reasons:

1) I told you so. I knew those waves would be crazy. But just wait, we got an even better shot later.

2) They're just plain cool-looking. I believe Derek snagged both of them--- what great timing!

3) My children are still alive.

Ok, so now to the Sean part of the post. Because even though the waves were big for the munchkins, they weren't having quite the same effect on the slightly larger Sean. He and Derek naturally adapted to this, however, and created a very characteristic game of hurling themselves over the waves and into the ocean as hard as they could. At least I think that was the gist of it. I'm not entirely sure. But they were both shrieking (well, Derek was shrieking and Sean was laughing at the shrieking. You know.) and filling their heads with sand and salt water. Nic joined in on the fun for a bit as well.

Anyway, after we were all funned out, we decided to cap off the Waimea fun with some rock jumping. Sean and Derek led the way, as usual...

peer-pressured Nic into leaping as well,

and I of course couldn't resist and jumped twice myself as well.

Now this is where it gets "funner". I was swimming back in after jump #2 when the girls saw me and got excited to come greet me. They didn't realize that right here and right now the waves that were coming were even bigger and crazier. So Avril swims out to me and manages to get to me fairly unscathed. Then I notice all the sand in her hair so I drag her, somewhat unwillingly, back out to rinse her hair. Well, unfortunately for all of us, Xandri, being the little opportunistic monkey that she is, decided to follow us out.

She didn't quite make it past the shore break before the next wave was breaking and as I went to "save" her and Avril, we were all knocked down by the wave, the water churning all around us, turning up the sand and girls all over the place...

As the water began to recede, I desperately tried to get my footing and grab onto both girls before it pulled them back in as well.

FAIL.

No, I barely made it out with Xandri and in the Ocean vs. Mom: Tug O' War Over Avril, I lost. But I snagged her back once Xandri was in Derek's arms and helped her up the beach. And then guess what.

I took her back out to rinse her hair out again.

Yeah, I'm that mean. Even Avril couldn't believe I was that mean.

To make up for it, though, and also because Sean wanted to go (hmmm... when I say it like that it sounds like Sean was the only one who did. But believe you me, we ALL wanted to go) to Ted's Bakery for some dinner and pie. (And when I write "pie" like that... you don't grasp the deep longing and desire in my voice that you would should you hear me utter the word.) Chocolate haupia, peach bavarian cream, pumpkin haupia....... excuse me for a minute.....

-----------------------INTERMISSION-----------------------
(elevator music playing)

Ok, now where was I?

Oh, yes, after Ted's Bakery, Sean introduced us to a secret little cove that not many people know about.

To get to it, we had to walk through the faery grove...

And here it is! Thank you, Sean, for introducing us to this gem. We'll be making this a regular haunt I think.

Gorgeous, serene and empty. Absolutely perfect. If Sean hadn't needed to get back to the airport I think we would have lingered and maybe played in the water.

Back through the faery grove....

And off to the airport. It was great to have you, Sean. Come back out and see us again soon... there's far too much of Hawai'i to revisit and enjoy in just three measly days!

A Sean-Filled Weekend: Stairway to Heaven (Haiku Stairs)

2010-10-18T19:38:00.016-10:00

So of course the first item of business on Sean's visit here was college game day. That doesn't get any pictures. I'll sum it up by saying it consisted largely of a lot of screaming, high five-ing and fist bumping.

After they milked that for what it was worth, they spent the evening visiting Sean's old haunts- Pounders Beach, La'ie Point, Pizza Bob's in Hale'iwa. They brought me home some mouth-watering white chicken artichoke pizza as well.

Bright and early next morning at 5:30am, before the guard got there, we set out for Stairway to Heaven. We quietly snuck into where we thought the trail head would be and walked up a drive.

Enjoyed the sunrise from the drive... while it wasn't the same as it might have been had we been on the stairway, just look at that golden sunlight...

On our way up, a group of rather disgruntled looking hikers were heading out. Thinking that it was strange that they were leaving and even stranger that they didn't say anything to us (you know, like "The guard's there, he won't let you pass."), we went on our way. Noticing lights on a running car up ahead, we did the only thing that made sense-- we dove into the ditch and hid in the bushes.

After waiting a moment, the truck slowly drove our way, and as we held our collective breath, passed us by. Relieved, we quietly climbed out of our hiding place and continued up the drive.

The road forked up where the truck had been parked and the fenced off fork had a path leading off right before the fence. We decided it looked unlikely and took the other fork. Unfortunately, it led us further away from the stairway till it dead-ended at some strange-looking compound. Discouraged, we turned back the way we had come. We noticed a few trails branching off, but decided they probably wouldn't lead us to the stairway.

We went back to the fork and decided to try the "unlikely" trail.

Success!

Well, of a sort. Yes, it led to the trailhead. Yes, there was a huge fence with barbed-wire running across the top. And yes, the guard was there and heard our not-so-silent approach.

So when he came to investigate our noisiness, Derek tried the "hey, we're lost can we hop the fence and you can show us how to get out?" routine. Yeah, that didn't work. He told us to turn around and go back the way we came.

Now, we could have done that. But since Derek was annoyed at being thwarted, what did he decide was the next best thing? Of course, why not go ahead and irritate the guard further? Provoke him until he threatens to call the cops if you try to get in again?

Naturally, Sean found that irritating (as did I, but I go with the flow a little more) and they bickered like an old married couple as we turned back.

We tried another trail, and another, each leading us to a bamboo hell, full of dead, cracking bamboo. When Derek would lose interest and be ready to quit, Sean was there spear-heading the next try. And when Sean got discouraged, Derek was ready to push again. On our third or fourth try, after crossing paths with some other eager hikers, we opted to try one last trail. Oddly enough, it actually worked. We found the fence. It was near the guard, but not so near as to be noticed. And it had been bent up so one could Down Dog into Up Dog under it. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Well, maybe if it had a little less sh** rubbed all over it.

Yes, someone or something had decided to climb up and take a dump on a clamp on the fence. Maybe they weren't that ambitious. Maybe they just picked up the feces and rubbed it all over. In any case, we all squeezed under the sh** fence as delicately as possible. We were committed.

For the next 45 minutes or so, we hiked, climbed, and clung to young trees as we scrambled over the next ridge or two in search of this so-called "stairway". At long last and after a few close calls, the stairway finally came into view.

We climbed over to it and amazingly enough, there was a little ladder up to it. We didn't actually use it, just the "trail" that led up to it. Someone insisted it was a trail we'd been following that whole time. I still think it was rain run off.

Finally, though, after many, many set backs and adventures, we were on the actual stairway. We actually could look down and see the guard pacing angrily at the trail head. Fortunately there were plenty of hikers on their way down the stairway to slow down the guard should he want to think about pursuing us. I quickly put out of my head the nervous thoughts of what would happen when we got back down after the hike and tried to remind myself that Derek was the only one the guard had seen and all us haoles probably look the same anyway.

So onward and upward.

Time for a water break. Sean and Sheen looking oh-so-casually out at the view.

This is the view from the first landing. I don't think I mentioned there are 3,922 stairs on this hike. Yeah.

So casual. This one goes out to Devin.

After the next landing, we came to this bunker. In it was a giant winch used years ago to haul a cable car up and down the mountain. Of course the graffiti made it a fantastic photo opp, so we snapped a few.

Contemplating the hike.

Derek breakin it down on the winch.

Any guesses on what this room was for?

And finally... shortly after the bunker, we made it to the top of the harrowing ridge hike. I kid you not, people, I am so grateful for those rails because I believe my death (or mere maiming) would have been long and painful otherwise.

H-3 from the back of the building

The View From the Top

Amazing. Gorgeous hike, though slightly terrifying at times. The trip down naturally went a lot faster. And the bottom?

Sean went down a little bit ahead of the rest of us. Feigning great fatigue and thirst, he begged some water of the guard. Naturally concerned, the guard quickly and eagerly obliged. Derek had switched shirts (Jason had an extra) and was a little less recognizable in a subtle white marathoner shirt instead of a bright orange Donkey Kong tee. We all trailed back in and picked up on Sean's story of getting the wrong GPS coordinates and getting lost and miraculously finding the stairway anyway. And yeah, there were still a few people behind us. And great, thanks for showing us the way back out!

Beautifully played Sean.

I would have been fine turning around and heading home or going to the beach or trying another hike. But I'm so glad those two nerds are so persistent that they found the trail and we did the stairway. Good times.

A Sean-Filled Weekend: The Beginning

2010-10-12T22:05:00.004-10:00

A couple of months ago, Derek did something or said something (I can't remember what) that pissed Sean off. So to apologize, Derek sent him over 2,000 texts in the course of two days repeatedly asking, "Why you so mad?" Naturally he thought it was hilarious, but Sean was "sulking and being a little girl" and even though I heard later he thought it was funny, still gave Derek the silent treatment. Well, with no response to his texts, Derek lost interest and decided two can play at the ignoring game, so when Scarlett finally decided she still wanted Rhett, Rhett was no longer interested in the drama.

In any case, Stefanie and I both grew tired of their annoying little feud or whatever it was. Especially since neither of them were actually mad at each other, just vaguely annoyed. So for Sean's birthday, Stefanie decided to fly Sean out for Columbus Day weekend. I chipped in a bit and had quite a time keeping it under wraps so Derek wouldn't suspect anything.

So worth the reaction.

Zoo Day

2010-10-03T21:15:00.006-10:00

So this is yet another long-time-in-coming post. I'd actually forgetten I hadn't posted our trip to the zoo, but honestly it was in July.

Anyway. Let's pretend that didn't just happen.

We decided that it would be a good idea to walk to the zoo with our hotel friends (same friend from high school-Melissa, plus another-Charlie and kiddos). In the middle of the morning. In Hawai'i. A mile away.

Not as great an idea as I first thought. A LOT of whining, very sweaty, red-faced and tired children by the time all was said and done. But I didn't take pictures of that- I only took fun pictures. So we'll focus on that.

The zoo was a lot of fun for the kids and even though it wasn't super impressive and we made the mistake of going left instead of right at the fork (I'm not really a bird person. I mean, they're KIND of interesting, but I don't go to the zoo to see birds.) There were a couple that were really cool, though.

The flamingos were right at the entrance and the kids loved em. I'm particularly fond of flamingos myself and was pleased with their pinkness. Roman also approved.

As I said-- birds. Oh and you may notice that Roman was the only male in our trip. He did well to represent though, men.

See, kids, wasn't that long walk SO WORTH IT?

But Mom, where's the bird?

I found it, guys!

This is pretty cool, I guess....

Oooooooo! Guinea pigs!!

This was actually a really cool petting zoo. The guinea pig display had a kid-size guinea pig maze/tunnel where the kids could crawl through and poke their heads up inside to look at everyone and the guinea pigs (which were of course relaxing in the shade of their hatch instead of energetically running around their maze and wheel and whatever else.)

Roman and N. checked out the llamas for quite some time. Rather than chase our own kids around, we eventually figured out it'd be easier to divide and conquer based on the speed and interest of the kids. I think I got the easy ones.

There were goats all over in this section and the kids loved getting all close and personal and touching them. Xandri especially loved washing her hands afterwards in the trough they had set up for it and held up the line pretty well until I "helped" her move it along.

One of my favorite things was how close the tiger display was to the playground (which was also amazing... totally kicking myself for not getting a pic!) Seriously though, I basically got a year membership to the zoo (like $30 or something) for the playground alone. The kids all loved checking it out, but of course Roman was particularly interested and watched them closely when he wasn't chasing the girls around the playground.

By this point, I was fed up. The kids kept running away (Roman in particular) and trying to push two umbrella strollers sucked. Charlie devised a strategy to tie them together, thereby creating a double stroller. Kind of. The wheels ran into each other a lot. So while it seemed like a good idea at the time, it soon became apparent that I would never be walking the kids to the zoo again.

But anyway, in addition to these, we saw elephants, alligators, crocodiles, turtles, koi, ducks and geese, giraffes, hippos, tortoises and some other things I can't remember. Anway, the kids enjoyed it and it was fun. But yeah. No more long walks with the monkeys.

Although lately (October, no longer July) Avril and Xandri have been going on "runs" with me. Lacing up their running shoes and going to run and do our "workouts". Even though my workout lasts twice as long, it's cute and fun and I'm glad my commitment to exercise and health is rubbing off!

Surf Day

2010-09-14T21:58:00.005-10:00

A couple weeks ago we took my new-to-me fish board out for a spin in Kailua. It was a great day for surf practice, with plenty of great waves and a lot of fun. No, I didn't get all the way up. Just to my knees-- but I caught a couple of waves in and it got me excited to keep it up and get better. My arms wore out before my interest did, though and I begrudgingly gave up my new toy to Derek to try out.

Meanwhile, however, the kids were back on shore with Daddy playing in the shelter our friends Jeremy and Monica had erected,

running barefoot along the beach, you know, just getting some exercise...

and sippin a cold one.

This guy finally decided (or so I gather from the pictures since I was out in the ocean at the time) that the girls were having a lot of fun and maybe he should check things out, too.

Yep, definitely fun.

The girls love the beach and have finally moved from complaining every time we go to getting excited when I say "beach". This is no doubt due to the fact that every time we go we somehow manage to miraculously (believe it or not) have FUN!

He got right to work and built a pyramid. Look how proud he is of his work!

Anyway, remember what I was saying about giving up my board to Derek? Yeah, well, wouldn't you know it-- he got up quite a few times on it. Show off. Sadly, I didn't get any really good pics since of course he decided to get up after I'd put the camera away (trust me having a camera handy at the beach would be a nice thing, but it wouldn't last long. The camera, that is.)

So while Daddy was out showing Mom up, Mom and Roman were back on the beach- too cool for school. Or maybe the sun was really bright and all he wanted was to hold the camera. But I'm not gonna tell you which.

The Thing.

Funny story. He got The Thing in a happy meal and was kind of scared of it at first- when you turn it on and shake it (it actually works best if you hit something with it. Not a fan.), he growls and says, "IIIIIIT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

Well, of course he adjusted to it really quickly (by the way, the fear relates to a Big Foot toy that was on display at Target that was huge and terrified him) and started hitting things with it. So he was sitting on my lap with it and what happened? He smacked me in the eye with it. Well, more on the brow bone, but you get the idea. And what did that stupid toy growl as a result?

"IIIIIT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

And now it's his new BFF.

I thought about posting the series of pics that led up to this one- she's such a ham! I love it. She kept posing and being silly with these big, happy grins, just eating up the attention. I hope that never changes.

And I hope I don't live to regret saying that.

Of course, Xandri had gotten all tuckered out, so when I got back on the beach, this is what I saw.

Too bad I didn't get a pic for you later, she was lying down wrapped in a towel and if you hadn't known she was there, you never would have guessed.

Pretty Girl

2010-09-11T00:07:00.000-10:00

On our "hike" slash nature walk to Waimea Falls, Avril found this once pretty, but now sad-looking flower- which, of course, she still found beautiful enough to pose with. And somehow she manages to pull it off.

Our New Home {set 3}

2010-09-05T21:51:00.004-10:00

Now for the bedrooms. I know you are all wanting to know where you'll be staying when you get here, so I saved the best for last :).

Anyway, we decided to convert the third bedroom for guests, so the girls now sleep in here (we did promise them bunkbeds):

Just kidding. But kind of not.

Here's the real deal:

Note the awesome built-in dresser, mirror and cabinets- thank you for saving us on furniture costs!!!

And just in case we didn't have enough storage space--- a bunkbed with lots of drawers. Seriously, it's almost hard for them to mess up their room cause they love putting all their crap in special drawers. (On a side note, those windows are called jalousies to refer to my last post.) And yeah, they like their bunkbeds.

Roman's room-- saddest day of all. Note my lovely Amish-crib not set up in the corner. That's because the other side of it got broken in the move. It was a clean break so I'm holding onto the hope it can be fixed. I gotta get around to filing my claims....

Our room for the first two weeks while I got everything else settled in and arranged:

Our room at the present:

It's huge! Btw, your thoughts on the parasol over the bed? I'm not sure I'm loving it, but I want it somewhere cool and there's an ugly window AC unit there that we have yet to use. I have a couple other ideas for covering it (mainly a tapestry thing or something). So. Your thoughts- please!!! By the way, did I mention how much I adore these built-in drawers?! There's a his and a hers in here. As well as another closet. We FINALLY have enough space for our obscene amount of clothes.

The Guest Suite:

Ok, we'll fix it up for you. Are you ready?

Don't worry, we'll move the wagon for you. And hopefully paint. Ugh this yellow hurts me!

Our New Home {set 2}

2010-09-05T10:29:00.002-10:00

First to clear up some confusion: we didn't buy, we're renting. And although I would love to take credit for the landscaping, it preceded us.

Here's the yard we get to enjoy.

Roman loves the ample hose opportunities at varying intervals around the property. He takes full advantage of them whenever I'm not looking and usually winds up very happily soaking wet.

Caught you, kid!

Along one side of our house we have this wonderful clothesline that I've been putting to use to save on our electric bill. Along with this, please note some leaps I've made in forgoing some modern conveniences with this home and my resulting attitude shift:

1) Clothesline: Hanging my clothes is somewhat therapeutic. I enjoy it, I like saving the energy and using the sun's power, being part of my environment. I love the smell of hung laundry. Yes, it's a little stiff and rough hanging outside, but I don't find it to be a problem by the time I'm ready to wear or use whatever. And if it bothers me-- air fluff in the dryer for 5 min!

2) No AC: Yes, in Hawaii this can be a travesty. But you know, I had AC in Missouri and I was a Nazi about keeping the doors closed, the windows closed and not going outside for fear of sweating. Granted I'm covered with a light sheen of sweat most days, but now I enjoy our yard more fully, again I feel more part of my environment and I enjoy tradewinds through the jalousies (check out windows in interior pics). I don't mind the doors and windows being open and I don't feel like a prisoner in my own home at the mercy of the weather.

3) No dishwasher: Again with the savings on the electric bill. Plus, I always had to rinse my dishes first anyway, so now I just add soap and I'm done. This one is less fun hippy for me, but cutting energy costs out here is a big deal since utilities can be very spendy, so it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Our backyard goes up a hill and the owners have utilized the space well by terracing. They've left the terraces on the sides empty of concrete so we have plenty of garden space which we've filled with tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and herbs- as well as added a lemon tree and a clementine tree. Hopefully we'll add some delightful pineapple plants to the mix as well- although in a period of three years we'll only get three pineapples per plant!

The top of our backyard leads to a fenced "wilderness" that is technically Tripler property but is outside the Tripler fence since they didn't want to mess with the landscaping that had been done by the time they were putting the fence in. So lucky us- more garden space, outdoor entertaining and/or.....

A workshop for the kiddos!

Immediately behind our house is this wonderful covered patio with plenty of storage and geckos (see Gecko Hunters along the top of the wall). This also has a clothesline for those rainy days.

Our New Home {set 1}

2010-08-29T21:45:00.007-10:00

Well, we are now largely settled into our new home and we love it. We find new things every day that remind us how perfect it is for us. And now you can see some of what that is-- and maybe give me design suggestions/solutions?!

In the past month we've gone from this:

to this:

(check the carport)

to this:

Here's one of those things we love- do you SEE all this storage space here? A whole hallway full of cupboards and drawers... Heaven knows we need the storage space! No- really.

From this:

(Any help for this wall? It has great potential, but I'm struggling to see it realized. Help me!)

to this:

(I like the map, most of the books on the left and the idea of all the pictures. I haven't organized the pictures yet and I don't know what to do with the shelves up above and the glass shelves below the map. And we're not trinket/knickknack people.)

From this:

to this:

From this:

to this:

Meanwhile....

Avril's 6th Birthday

2010-08-13T07:39:00.002-10:00

Happy Birthday sweetheart! You are such a sweet kid these days, so smart and good, helpful and obedient (sometimes), feisty and independent and downright naughty others, but I love you so much through it all. And you kind of remind me of myself...

Avril turned 6 this year and as it happened her birthday fell right on the third day of school and moving day. So it was a little tricky to celebrate it and I think she was a little disappointed we didn't really do much on her birthday. We kept it pretty simple and straight-forward- she got to pick her meals on Saturday (her birthday was Wednesday), had a castle cake which we ate before I took a picture, and she got presents that she opened before Daddy got home on Thursday since he was working late. I think he was pretty bummed to have missed it, but it was a tricky one to celebrate. Thanks to Charlie and girls for coming over and making the day a little more exciting and special for Avril- bringing fun and bearing gifts. That's enough to make any girl's day a good one!

She got a few cards in the mail as well, one from Grandma Zan (thanks Grandma!), a package from Grandpa Jackson (thanks Grandpa!) and a card with some cash from Auntie Camas. She paid her tithing with it... Although the tithing thing started out on the wrong foot... when I started to tell her what tithing is and that we give 10% to the bishop, she started to cry and said she didn't want to give her money away. So I talked her through it and told her what it was for- people who didn't have money or food or clothing; missionaries; temples, etc. At that point she started being ok with it and was ready to take that step. So we did the math and practiced figuring out 10% and she wrote out her little tithing slip and was pretty excited to give her money to the bishop on Sunday. Probably not as excited as she was the next day when we went shopping. She deliberated for a long time over getting something big and spending all her money or getting a few small things.... and spending all her money. After great deliberations, she finally settled on the Rapunzel doll above.

So thanks to all who helped make her birthday extra special!

Prince Lot Hula Festival

2010-07-28T16:17:00.000-10:00

I never really appreciated the beauty and history of the hula until we went to this:

It was incredible... the music, the dancers, the chanting, the history. I loved it. It made me love Hawai'i and it's people and I've been craving more of both the dancing and the history-- the culture of Hawai'i in general. I need to find out how and where I can enroll myself and my girls in some hula classes!

Aren't these girls cute?

While we were watching, the un-fun part of being a mom came up. I left Avril to watch our stuff while I took a bored, keyed up Roman and a dancing Xandri to the bathroom, missing some of the dancing. While on our way, we passed a both of senior citizens making leis and other flower crafts as a fundraiser, so I bought a little wristlet for Xandri and they oo-ed and aaah-ed over Roman and Xandri and gave Roman a little something as well. Sadly, I didn't get any pics of Xandri (battery died at the crucial moment). Avril was jealous when we returend, of course, but I consoled her with the knowledge that, yes, she too would get a wristlet:

During intermission the girls decided they'd had enough and so even though I could have stayed for the whole thing, we took another potty break and took off. But not before Avril posed her little heart out and climbed all over some tree roots.

Meanwhile, Roman did the one thing he wanted to the entire time: pushed that stroller like the big boy he is.

Livin La Vida Loca--- Poolside

2010-07-27T15:29:00.001-10:00

If you had daily access to a pool steps away from your front door, what would you do in it?

Pool Time According to Roman

Step 1) Sidle out onto the wall between hot tub and pool. Bring plastic cup provided for your dipping and pouring convenience over by the bar.

Step 2) Fill cup and find the nearest drain to pour it in.

Step 3) Repeat as needed for the duration of pool time.

According to Xandri

Step 1) Make friends with some people with floaty toys.

Step 2) Wait till their son outgrows his.

Step 3) Somehow manage to get them to give you said floaty toy for your floating enjoyment for the rest of your hotel stay.

Step 4) Ignore your sister's insistent assertions that it is her turn to use the floaty toy.

NOTE: Floaty toys are desirable for all skill levels, even if you've already learned how to swim and have been swimming independently for 3 weeks.

According to Avril

Step 1) Always make sure you're as beautiful and graceful as a mermaid. It may help if you shout, "Mermaid! Mermaid! Mermaid!" every time your head is out of the water.

Step 2) Practice all sorts of tricks in the water- such as twirling, pretending to drown, flipping and swimming across the pool with your head under water. Maybe even try a handstand if you get up the courage. Be sure to ask your mom to show you all of her tricks cause she might have some good ideas, too.

Step 3) If your mom is anywhere near, make sure you're doing the drowning trick and hang onto her for dear life. With all your weight and all the drama you can muster.

Step 4) Always, ALWAYS take a bow for any appreciative audience you may have gained during your time under water.

A Final Tip From All Three

If your mom is ever in the water, everyone ambush all at once. It's also really fun to hang on your mom while she runs the length of the pool. You can urge her on by yelling "Faster!" right in her ear. And she won't even complain because it's such a good workout.

Livin La Vida Loca--- Hotel Style

2010-07-27T13:34:00.000-10:00

What would YOU do if you lived in a hotel for two months?

Cartoons in the morning while mom goes down to get breakfast for everyone?

Mimic your big sisters?

Play Wii? (And mimic your big sisters?)

Make yourself a nest across the bed while your sister clings to the edge?

Play dress up? C'mon, he's a Roman. In a toga. Right, Daddy?

He's so fierce! There's a man who's comfortable with his masculinity!

Yep, We Finally Have A House!

2010-07-21T13:06:00.005-10:00

Well, "have" may be a bit of a strong word, but we do sign on Monday so I'm gonna go ahead and count it.

You know how we were looking on the Windward side, over by Kailua and Kaneohe? Well, we didn't find a house there.

Nope, instead you can look out on the grounds of Tripler Army Medical Center from our backyard. And not over anyone else's house or yard either. Theoretically, Derek could just step out the back door and head to work. Not sure how the whole ID check works with that, though, so he might wind up driving anyway. Or biking. But in any case, chew on this:

$200 a month in gas: SAVED

35-45 minute commute to/from work: ERADICATED

Derek did some quick math and found out how much time that will truly save him:

40min commute x2 (there and back) x 5.5 days a week x 52 weeks x 3 years /60 min /16 conscious daytime hours = 72 DAYS of extra time for Derek that he doesn't have to spend in a car.!

That feels good.

Furthermore, it's $100 under our max we were willing to pay, 2000+ sq ft, and has guest room possibilities. It's a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with Oriental touches throughout, hardwood floors and a stunning view from the terraced back yard. It has an Asian rock garden in the front yard and the rest of the property is paved: READ: No upkeep. Plenty of room for the kids to scooter around, or practice their biking/tricycling skills. Tons of outdoor storage, gated property, garden potential, wilderness at the top of the terraced hill with great exploration/fort/treehouse potential.

It's an older home, too, so the fixtures are all 1960's hardware in the kitchen, original stove which looks quaint and hopefully I won't be using much. Beautiful stainless steel fridge. Another perk of older homes is all the built-in storage- shelves, cabinets, etc. In fact, the whole floor plan and house in general is just really interesting. You know I'm a sucker for interesting. I'll pick old house with character over new cookie-cutter box any day. I mean, as long as I'm not dealing with a lot of weirdness (e.g. mold, termites, overall nastiness that sometimes comes along with old-- in other words, NOT character.).

It's also located in a 9/10-on-greatschools.org-scoring school district, which is a BIG deal in Hawaii. The school system is pretty sketchy over here. Did you know high school graduation rates are 60%? Appalling. As a result, many people put their kiddos in $900+/month private schools. I don't think we would do that anyway for K-2nd grade, I feel like I can supplement at home to make sure she's up to speed when we move. But I'm glad I don't have to make that choice.

So where did I find this great home? Can I see pics? Is there an online link?

Nope. Sorry. I found it in the paper- and that's the only place I've been able to find it, even knowing all the details on it. I don't think they listed it anywhere else. Supposedly it's going around Tripler, but Derek never heard about it. And we haven't taken any pictures ourselves.

But I will give you this much--- my slightly PSed version of Google's streetview. Thank you Google!

This house was literally an answer to prayer. I was starting to lose hope that we'd find something big enough, in the right place, at the right price. I was starting to think maybe we'd just have to settle. But letting go of MY timeline and MY expectations allowed the Lord to provide us with something that is perfect for us. I finally left it in His hands and we've been amply blessed for it. And here's the thing- I know that Derek's heart was in the right place. He kept telling me to hold out, we didn't need to settle, the Lord would provide what we needed- and even what we wanted. I was the Doubting Thomas, wondering if the answer to our prayer was that we needed to live smaller, more simply. As I thought about it, I felt instinctively that I was the one holding us back spiritually from this blessing. It was literally the day after I "let go" that we found this house and fell in love. It's true- God answers prayers- in His own time and His own way, He gives us what we need and more.

Roman's First Hawai'i Haircut

2010-07-19T21:49:00.000-10:00

So my little guy usually gets his hair cut by his daddy, but we've been without clippers for nearly two months now. It was time.

So while we were out and about getting duplicates of our keys for the car, we stopped at a small local joint for breakfast, followed up by a small local salon for a haircut. Spur of the moment, $8-- so yeah.

He was pretty quiet and still, just sat there taking it all in:

Isn't my boy handsome?

I honestly couldn't believe how still he sat. He was so good and so cute and everyone at the salon loved him.