Feeling the need for change....

I guess moving what 8000 miles away from home, and selling our house, and up rooting our family didn't really satisfy my need for change. And because I can't wake up, after thinking about and wanting to be, 20 lbs thinner. I decided I needed a change. So Bethany and I just went to the salon and I said " I need a change."

I am not sure what I think.

Though Bethany said "You look like a Grandma." To which I said "Is that good?" And she said, "Yeah you kind of look like our grandma." I must remind you as well that she thought a picture of Grandma was the guy from Blades of Glory...so I can 't rest my judgement solely on her, though in her defense my mother in law's hair always looks great and styled.

Then my sweet husband, said "it looks nice, but is that all your hair?"

"Um yeah its my hair. What do you mean?"

"well you know how sometimes they style your hair, and it looks different after you wash it? When my mom used to get her hair done we'd tease her on how it looked when she got home, because of the way the hairdresser would do her hair. Then she would wash it and style it her self and it would look normal again."

So I wonder if that was a compliment or a way of getting out of saying "I don't really like it."

I don't know what do you think?

Before:

After:

PS. these pictures I took tonight after I washed it, and let it dry as i went for a three mile walk, in the wind and drizzle. And I do love that more than half my hair is gone, the stylist- like most- kept saying "wow you have a lot of hair" as she took the thinning scissors and chopped away.

It's a Dole Life!

Not a dull, but Dole life. We had a blast at the Dole Plantation, which up until a few years ago was a working plantation. I believe now, and don't quote me, it is only a tourist location with some pineapples for local use. Though with the amount of ice creams and smoothies they serve a day, they probably grow the pineapple for self use.

Thanks G-man for taking these pictures of us enjoying these yummy treats.

You know what else they have that looked so yummy was a pineapple split!! Imagine if you will a pineapple cut in half, clean out a pit and piled high three scoops of ice cream smothered in whip cream, strawberries, chocolate and of course pineapple...It looked so yummy, think I am going to try that out for a dessert sometime. Anyway.....

So who knows how pineapples grow??

Would you like to see?

I am sure you would so here you go.

Yeah they just grow off the tops like that, looks kind of fake or something. Seems like the fruit part should grow in the ground, ya? (that's local talk, make a statement and turn it into a question by adding ya? at the end) Anyway kind of cool, ya?

We rode on the fun train around the plantation, but not sure how fun it was for those sitting around us, because Mr. T-Rex screamed, I mean screamed, the whole 2 mile 22 minute tour. Yeah it was fun! Sorry fellow travelers!

After the train ride we fed the local coy fish...man they were hungry, I feared one of my kids would fall into the pond to be devoured by these hungry guys. Funny thing is as they were all jumping on top of each other to get the food people were throwing in by the handfuls, Two just sat there and dropped the pellets in one at a time. She kept feeding them while the older two were done feeding them, Gman didn't think it was fair that she got to keep feeding them. But that's what happens when you throw the pellets all in and your sister just throws one at a time, causing a huge feeding frenzy. (did that even make sense??)

We also went through their maze, which g-man totally loved! It was a lot of fun, and truly was the largest full size maze I have ever been in. The world record for going through it and hitting all their secret spots is a little over five minutes and it took us...........a little under an hour. No wonder Two wanted me to hold her.

You may not be able to see it, but G-man has his new light blue cast, which we drew sea life all over on it. We have been told by several people that it is the coolest cast they have ever seen.

G-man's first talk

Today G-man gave his first talk at church. He did a wonderful job. I was so proud of him. He said the whole thing by himself.

To Move or not to Move

Isn't that the eternal question? Possibly this doesn't apply to you because one your kids are grown or two you are much better at bed time rituals than we have been lately.

When your kids fall asleep on the floor, mind you after baths and getting in pjs, do you move them to their beds?


I mean you know they will sleep so much better in their beds, you know it can't be comfortable on the floor with their heads stuck under the ottoman but do you disturb their slumber?

Is it possible they will sleep there all night??



No it is not, and do they go to their own beds?
Not typically. This is where they end up.

G-man down at the bottom, me (mom) on the left, Two hard to see in the middle, and B in the pink.

Moral of the story. Yes move them to their beds, because if you don't move them they will move themselves to your bed.

side note: Put laundry away before going to bed, you never know when you will take a picture. Also to the side of me are the blankets that B brought to sleep on on the floor. I guess Eric got a little uncomfortable and got out to take this picture. Don't you feel bad for us all sleeping on the floor? :) It is a really comfortable mattress, maybe we will get a bed frame one day.

Hike to the Light House

I am not sure what the park is called but it is just over the hill from our house. This morning we got the kids up, well rather they got them selves up early and we went for a walk. Well more of a hike, it was two miles straight up the hill. Nice paved trail, beautiful views...can even see two neighboring islands, Maui and Moloki (sp). The kids had a blast. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.

B wanted me to stop every few steps to take her picture. We sure looked a little touristy. Though as we walked you could tell the locals from the tourists by...no not the cameras but by the friendliness...

Oh one other thing, as we were walking back down the hill, G-man couldn't stop asking questions. He was asking them so fast, we didn't have enough time to resond to them.

After a while he finally said or rather asked "Why can't I stop asking questions?" To which I responded, "I don't know but I was thinking the same exact thing."

He does ask a lot of questions. But it is great.

Talofa! (Hi in Samoa)

The kids got asked to dance a Samoan dance. They had fun, though a little shy.

Wordless Wednesday from Waikiki

Well not really from Waikiki but close enough! Here are some pics from the Polynesean Culture Center and the Honolulu Zoo which is across the street from Waikiki. Looking forward to taking y'all to visit these places....think I want some visitors? YES!!!

It isn't 8 am yet

and I have checked my email, fed my kids,

cleaned the bathroom,

watched some tv,

ate a snack,

put kids into time out three times,

read about 15 blogs,

changed a couple diapers,

ate some coconut,

told my kids no 25 times,

nursed a baby,

bandaided a finger,

told my kids not to tie a rope around their little sister because she is not a dog,

picked up thirty croutons off the carpet,

said "I don't care who did it, I asked you to help me clean it up!",

threatened to turn off the tv if they didn't help,

and thought about unpacking my clothes in my closet.

Oh and I need to fold the laundry on my bed..um well floor now....

I have been here over a week now almost two on Friday (not counting thursday as two weeks because we got here at 11 PM) and I haven't wanted to unpack my clothes. I keep wearing and washing the same outfits. But the suitcases are spilling out on my floor as I try to find something "different" to wear. Ok off to work!

Twelve Hour Mom

You know you are a twelve hour mom when:

Your kids wake up at 5:30 am and you are ready for them to go to bed at six at night!


I knew well I didn't know, when I decided to have kids that it really is a 24/7 job. I always thought I'd have nights and weekends off...what was I thinking?

I just really need a little time to myself especially at nights. I discovered well more like came to a realization last night that after about 12 hours of my kids I shut down, and need a break.

Is it so wrong of me to want them to go to bed? Stay in their beds, or even their rooms for that matter?? Why do I feel quilty for wanting to have my own down time?

Why do they want to stay up with me? I really am not a nice mom after seven o'clock. Heck not sure if I am ever a nice mom, but I really am not nice after 13 plus hours with my kids.

Eric doesn't understand that when I want him to put the kids to bed, and have them stay there, I mean it. I don't think he gets that I really truly need them out of my hair.

Don't get me wrong I love my kids. I love spending time with my kids, just not at night. I just want to sit in front of the tv and think of nothing. I want to write on the computer, or do some digital scrapbooking and not have to worry about kids.

Am I alone??


Am I just horrible?


Am I just plain tired??

Seven days and.....

One broken arm! Yes we have been here, count them seven days. We got invited to a birthday party today, which after only being there five minutes, G-man fell off the jungle gym and broke his left arm. And if you are saying to yourself "didn't he just break his arm?" You would be correct. He broke his right arm about two months ago- beginning of April. He has now evened up the score by breaking the left arm, in almost the exact same spot as the right, but only one of the bones not both, so that is good, I guess.

Photo Tag

Photo Tag
The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. And you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping the snot from your child's nose. Then you tag five others. You guys are in for quite a treat since it's just a week after moving in and still not settled very well.

1. Laundry room - a little closet off the front hallway

2. Favorite room - the kitchen! I just love that it is open to the family room and can step off onto the Lanai from it, and the views from the eating area are really really beautiful.

3. What the kids are doing right now - Emily in the kids room, sitting nicely on their wonderful futon mat :)

These two are enjoying our new furniture while watching tv. Like our new furniture :) Bought the ottoman and chair from a hotel resale store, and the futon, ready for you to come and sleep on it :)

4. Favorite shoes - bare feet:
you would not believe how comfy they are!

Didn't think you wanted to see my feet.

5. Toilet - I took a pic of our bathroom, the toliet is in the little closet, I read this wrong and well don'[t feel like getting a pic of the potty I m tired :)
6. Kitchen sink - again, better than expected!

7. Fridge - see above kitchen picture :) ok cheating again...

8. Self-portrait--I am just so not pretty!

9. My closet - half of it anyway and well most of our stuff is still in those suitcases on the floor.
10. Dream vacation - I d love to go on an African Safari....B took this picture of the spinning world at the temple on Sunday. It is part of a display of all the Book of Mormons in all their different languages.

Now I am suppose to tag five people.... So here it goes Poppy Mom "Patricia", Iggee (Stephanie), Cherylanne, Erika, and Sheri. And any one else who feels like doing this, it was kind of fun, even though I forgot all the pictures I was suppose to take and am just too lazy and tired to take anymore :)

Happy Happy Birthday T-Rex

It is so hard to believe that he is already a year!

It has gone so fast and yet at the same time has been a really long year. We are so glad to have this little guy be a part of our family. He is becoming so active, he loves to climb on and into anything. His favorite toy: The dishwasher!

Happy birthday little guy!

After spending the day at the beach, and truly enjoying the warm sun and eating sand with some pretzels. We came home to enjoy a little nap. Then pizza for dinner and yummy chocolate cupcakes for dessert. He wasn't the only one to get a messy face. Then some opening of presents. It was a great day for our little guy. Now time to clean up all the chocolate off the kitchen floor.

Oh the Sweet Sounds

Sunday we took a five hour scenic drive around the whole island. The kids slept the first almost hour, which was nice and peaceful. And the views, can I just say it really is gorgeous, and I am waiting for y'all to come and visit so I can take you around.

Anyway we stopped by the Hawaiian temple and went through the visitor center.

After we left, Eric commented to the kids, "Isn't the temple just beautiful."

G-man replied "Not as beautiful as mom."

I don't know if I agree with that but it sure was sweet.

(I'll post pictures as soon as I find the cables for it)

We made it!

We didn't crash in the Pacific Ocean, nor did the person seated next to us shoot us too many fiery darts from her eyes, and actually the kids slept most of the flight well after the first two hours of coloring, eating, and fussing to get comfortable. Overall the trip wasn't too bad. We made it and with way too much luggage and just not enough of the right stuff.

It took us over forty five minutes to check in, in Austin. With sixteen bags- including car seats and a port-a-crib, I guess it was a lot of work. We got to our gate and the doors were shut. We were the last ones to board. The flight attendant later told us that we might want to be the first ones to board on the next flight--DUH!

Though when we got to Arizona to board our Hawaii flight, and they called first boarding for those needing extra time (like us) or first class passengers I think the whole lot of fliers stood up because there were more than just first class and people traveling with small kids, it really was crazy.

Well like I said we flew safely with out too many complications.

The fun began when we landed and had to figure out how to get all of our sixteen pieces of check baggage along with our five carry ons into our rented mini van and our limo that Eric rented to help take us to our home. After about an hour and a half of pulling luggage off the belt, loading and getting the rental, we drove off to get home about 11 pm. (we landed at 8).

Because of the cost of shipping and stuff we only had two suitcases per person plus carry on which pretty much held all our clothes (now I am thinking we brought way too much clothes), some towels which we used for beds the first night, pillows, some computer stuff and well I am not too sure. We pulled out our beach and bath towels and pillows and slept on the floors. We have been informed by Gregory that we really need a couch!

We are on the fourth floor of a really nice complex. With a couple of pools and inner coastal waters with a promenade to walk around with which we have done a couple of times. The kids made a friend at the pool on Friday that told us that they get dolphins swimming in there, so we have been looking for their fins.

We are on a fun quest to find furniture, we succeeded in getting a tv, bed, futon for the kids, and some more beach towels. Yesterday we found a hotel liquidation furniture store and Eric will be getting us a desk, some chairs, a table, and a bed on Tuesday.

It is crazy and it just feels kind of like we are staying in a hotel- an unfurnished, nice three bedroom one. It hasn't really hit home that this is home yet for me. I want to decorate and do things to the house to make it my home, but it just seems silly to spend money on something that I won't be able to take back home with me. But we will see.

The kids love it, and are up bright and early every morning. The first morning it was 3 am! but we are slowly getting used to the time.

They sure are loud in this empty space. I feel for the neighbors below. The next door neighbors we met yesterday and they have two small kids so they understand, we don't hear them so hopefully they don't hear us, though they probably don't have the crying and temper tantrum throwing kids like mine have been.

The kids saw their first snails this morning.

And well I have to get showered to go to church, I am laying on the floor in the front room with boxes surrounding me- hiding me while Eric is getting the kids ready. All I hear is the hum of the computer and the screeching of my screaming over tired children. Oh this is paradise :)

Who wants to sit next to me?

So you woke up this morning all excited to fly to Hawaii, on your long awaited dream vacation. Your bags are packed. Your mail is on hold. You have your pillow and you are ready to take a long needed nap on the long long flight.



You step on the plane, you notice a family sitting in the row. You start to look at your seat number, and back up to the row of seats, yep that is where you are sitting. You count 1, 2 , 3 4 four kids??? You notice there are three seated kids and one infant in arms. The mom doesn't look happy holding the climbing infant. You get to squeeze past the father, trip over the three year old and be trapped in the window seat.





Yah, you who is traveling today, I apologize before hand. And am praying for you as much as you are praying that there is another open window seat not near a crazy family of six!





Wish us luck and the poor traveling soul that is seated next to us.

Here is a pic of us flying drawn by B:

Can you say...

Aloha!!

We got the final go ahead this weekend.

We signed a lease on Saturday.

Got our plane tickets late last night.

We leave Thursday afternoon at 3 to arrive that night to an empty condo.

But our condo for six months, none the less.

Can I just tell you how happy I feel to have things kind of settled.

We also rented out our car last night, no payment on that for us!

Things are finally coming together.

Now I just need to get things packed and ready to go in 3 days!!!!!