Hawaii Pictures Part 3

I've decided not to drag this Kaya vacation photo tour out any further and combine the remaining photos I like into one collage called....

A HAWAIIAN HODGEPODGE

There is a picture of Rhett at the airport getting ready to fly out from San Diego. He loved having his own suitcase and refused to let anyone help him with it. With all of his books, animals, DVD player and snacks for the plane it was a pretty decent weight. There is also a picture of Emmie on the plane occupying herself by putting baby wipes on her head and doll as well as a picture of her in her stroller/ car seat which I'm not sure why I included. I guess I just thought she looked pretty.

One of the highlights of the trip was spending time with family. In addition to seeing Rod's parents and Auntie Itsuko we also got to spend some time with Uncle Tommy and Aunt Elsa and their family who is pictured in there somewhere. Rod's brother Brad was also visiting from Japan so we had some great quality time with him too. I think I found out where Rhett gets all his silliness after trying to take a serious picture of Brad to no avail. Brad and his wife Rie are expecting their first baby in May and I have no doubt they will be fabulous parents.

There's also a few pictures from an aquarium we visited as well as Rhett and Emmie having their first try at firecrackers. New Years Eve is huge in Hawaii in terms of fireworks. They start around 2pm on New Years Eve and stop who knows when. I was still hearing them a week later when we were getting ready to leave. Unfortunately our main firework pictures are on the other camera so I couldn't share but just know every street in every neighborhood there has their own firework extravaganza.

So that's it my friends. Oh wait, I forgot one more thing;

Rainbows......

Obviously one of Hawaii's advantages would be their great weather. Well it rained almost every day while we were there which meant I saw a rainbow almost every day we were there. Each one was a beautiful gift. Almost as beautiful as the fact that Rod and I got to spend every morning in Starbucks without children as well as go on a few dates and see a couple great movies. Now that's TRUE beauty. Mahalo to my mother-in-law and Auntie for giving us that gift of time.

All in all a great trip with new treasured memories!

Hawaii Pictures Part 2

Bags are unpacked, laundry is put away and there is milk in the fridge. Time for Hawaii pictures part 2. This one is sadly but truly one of my favorite parts of the trip. Oh the goodness of it all....

FOOD

A diet will surely be near in my future but any extra pound was so, so worth it. Let's see we started off our trip celebrating New Years Eve with Uncle Tommy's corn chowder and my mother-in-laws famous New Years Eve chili. Auntie Itsuko also made some salsa that I think I consumed a pound of and of coarse we enjoyed her wonderful traditional Bobo soup. We had traditional Hawaian fare at Rods favorite plate lunch place called Grace's. We ate at a yummy Chinese buffet, a fancy restaurant called 3660 on the Rise where the butterfish melts in your mouth and even stopped on the side of the road on the North Shore to eat grilled garlic shrimp from a truck. As soon as we got out of the car the garlic permeated the air. We also had grilled pineapple and rice, rice, rice. One night we enjoyed the best fried rice and ribs from the Sidestreet Inn. Towards the end of the trip we had the best hamburger EVER! It's at this place in Kailua you know where my favorite beach was- which should tell you if you go to Oahu and just go to Kailua your trip will be well spent...anyways it's grilled and big and juicy and terriyaki and has some kind of secret yummy sauce and it's divine. Is your mouth watering yet? Right before we flew out on our last day we had breakfast at SAm Choy's and again all I will say is heaven on a plate.

Speaking of heaven I have not even mentioned dessert. Rod is always on the lookout for a good pastry here in San Diego and I never thought much about it except that my husband appreciates sweet delicasies. Well now I know where that comes from. The bakeries in Hawaii are OUTSTANDING. Moist coconut cake, hot malasadas (portugeese donut aka a round piece of heaven) berry and apple danishes, blueberry scones like you have never tasted before and the grand finale or clearly our obsession of the trip, SHAVED ICE. We went to the famous Matsumoto's Shaved Ice place on the North Shore so the kids could try it. The long line out the door did not stop us. It was so good we were inspired to have shaved ice every day from different places around the island. In the end Matsumoto proved to be the best (which of coarse we drove back and had for a second time) but each place had our favorite flavors and were enjoyed immensely especially by Rhett. Poor Emmie alwasy seemed to be napping during that time so she missed out but we had it so much she even had a bit here and there.

Well this will probably be the longest of my Hawaii posts but hopefully you got a taste of a great part of our trip.

Hawaii Pictures Part 1

On New Years Eve we left for Hawaii for eight days, came home for about ten hours and then left again for Las Vegas. We just returned a few hours ago. It was so nice getting away to see family and catch up on some family vacation time. I took mucho pictures while in Hawaii and could not wait to share them. Since I have so many to choose from I thought I would break them down to themes and make a collage for each one.

THE BEACH

We went to some form of the beach almost every day. On our last trip I said to Rod, "the beach again, do we have to?" Apparently it's one of the major things you do in Hawaii. I'm glad he talked me into it because you have not experienced the beach until you go to a beach in Hawaii. I thought San Diego beaches were beautiful, well the places we visited put La Jolla and Coronado to shame. Although all the beaches are amazing my favorite was Kailua Beach. It's the one above with Rod and Rhett sitting next to eachother with their backs facing us. Notice I did not include any pictures of myself. Truth is I don't have any since I was the main photographer but even if I did I probably would elect not to expose my bikini on the internet. The water is turquoise in color and the sand is really fine. The tide was really low and I guess there is some kind of reef or something that enables people to swim in the water almost like it's a bay. Rhett would say his favorite was Hunama Bay because he got to see a lot of big fish there.

So that's my first set of Hawaii pictures for you. Stay tuned for at least a few more. I'm off to do about 10 loads of laundry and read 1000 emails. Good night.

Just Another Saturday

Our day started off yesterday with what I thought was a normal sibling squabble. Apparently Rhett was playing with some kind of cookie cutter in the baking drawer and Emmie came along to play with him or take it from him and he got mad and accidently shut the drawer on her finger. However after picking her up and noticing blood all over her hand I realized this was more than pinching a finger in a drawer. We later discovered she probably cut her finger on the food processor blade that was in the same corner of where her hand was. Let this be a lesson to any parent out there it's probably not a good idea to keep very sharp objects in drawers within small childrens reach......oh you already know that, I guess it's just MY lesson than.

Anyways 25 minutes later the bleeding had not stopped yet so the doctor told us to come in for stitches or glue. I was not too excited about holding my screaming daughter down for them to stitch up her finger but glue sounded very interesting. They never had that when I was a child. Rod and I even thought about going to the store, buying the glue and doing it ourself to save us from sitting in the waiting room of sick children all day. After the adventure (which it was for Rhett who was very happy to go to the doctor for his sister as long as it was not for him) was over they ended up not doing stitches or glue.

You would never know it though by looking at her hand....or the hospital ankle bracelet. And in case anyone is wondering that is an M&M in her hand. What else would you give a girl to stop her from crying than chocolate?

Cute and Cozy

My aunt stopped by today with a surprise for Emmie. She crocheted her a hat and scarf along with a matching hat, scarf and blanket for her babie doll. She loves her hat so much that she had to keep it on during her nap. Thanks Aunt Karen, just in time for the chilly weather.

Not the Energizer Bunny after all

After two Thanksgiving celebrations yesterday we finally made it home around 8:30pm. Rod and Rhett were hanging out on the bed watching something on Rod's computer when I stepped out the room. I came back a few moments later and found Mr. Stay Up Until almost 11:00 the Night Before. Too tired to even lay in a normal sleeping position. By the way this is not a postprandial sleep from lots of carbs and turkey but more cranberry sauce, pie, cookies and cinnamon rolls.

Camp Out

Last night Rod and Rhett had a camp out in the living room Kaya style. Instead of smores they had craisins and chinese food.

they slept on futons

watched the Duke game

used their flashlights

and had lots of overall fun.

Emmie participated in the festivities but soon started getting tired

Rhett on the other hand was ready for a long, wild night.

Emmie gave in around 9 pm and passed out on daddy

and then here is Rhett at 10:46 pm watching a movie.

I'm so thankful for these three amazing people in my life. My two children drive me crazy almost daily but also remind me to laugh and love and let joy penetrate my life. I'm so grateful for the gift of motherhood and all that it encompasses. I'm also grateful that I have the ability to keep growing and let God show me how to love these little ones like he does. I'm so thankful for my husband. He loves his family so much and continually comes up with creative things to do with the kids. He works hard so I don't have to (outside the home that is) and is strong and dependable. He is more than I could ever ask for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!

A Small Group Dinner

We have small group tonight at our home. Since it's finally starting to feel like Fall I made my favorite soup. We are currently reading this book and it's really thought provoking. I'm looking forward to a nice evening of warm foods, friends and discussion.

Ebony and Aerosol.......Perfect Harmony

Back when I did this my plan was to get rid of our iron door and paint our front door black. After talking to a few people about it I was told that if we were ever to sell our house people actually like those iron doors. Now I don't think anyone on this planet would like our ugly, beige, desert motif iron door but I did rethink getting rid of it. So plan B, keep the iron door and paint it black. Of coarse once I started to get ready to paint that door black I found several other things to paint black along with it.

I headed out to Home Depot last night to buy some black spray paint which I've never used before. After asking the paint dude how much paint I would need I headed out the door with eight cans of black spray paint at only $1.96 a can. I started last night in the dark painting a plant basket and part of a bench. Here is my learning. I LOVE spray paint. Often while painting I was asking the spray can "where have you been all of my life?" I'm not kidding. After painting every room in my house twice along with a few ceilings, kitchen cabinets (three times) I think it's safe to say I know my way around a can of paint. I thought I liked painting. Let me just say spray paint has revoluntionized what I think about painting and I don't know if I could ever go back again. Here are the two main things that sold me. 1. It's sooooo fast. Oh my you could paint something with a spray can in less than five minutes if you wanted to. 2. There is very little to clean up. No paint brushes to wash, no big large cans to disgard. It's fast, it's easy, it's pretty, it's a gift from God above. One thing you will need is a pair of gloves if you don't want to get paint all over your hands.

In addition to the door I painted two white shutters for our window that have been sitting in the garage, two benches and a plant basket. I also made some pillows out of fabric our friend brought us back from Africa. Now my fingers feel like they're going to fall off but look what I have to show for it.

BEFORE

AFTER

I never, ever, ever thought I would say this but look at my pretty door. I'm actually starting to like that iron thing now, especially with my pretty Christmas wreath on it. I've said it before and I will say it again, whether it's fashion or decorating black never fails you. Add it to a can of aerosol and you have painting bliss.

A New Day

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Halloween 07

So I'm pretty late in posting Halloween pictures of my kids and I know it's kind of anti-climatic but since this blog is also the closest thing I'll ever get to scrapbooking I had to put them in here. Fortunately for me my talented, artistic sister is relentless in capturing photos of my kids or else I would have almost missed this furry, fuzzy memory.

As you may be able to tell from the photos Rhett was a lion and Emmie a ladybug. Of coarse no dress up evening would be complete without a few obstacles. For Emmie that would be one word....SHOES. A month ago I bought her a pair of black patent leather shoes because I figured she would wear them for the holidays but mainly she needed a pair of black shoes for her Halloween costume. She has worn them a few times prior but when I put them on after putting on her costume and she belt out a blood-curdling scream I thought something might be wrong. She seemed to be fine as long as she didn't have to put any pressure on her feet but my daughter is not one to be confined to a wagon all night when she sees an opportunity to run up to strangers and ask grab for candy. Again my saint sister came to the rescue and just happened to have a new pair of shoes for Emmie in her car. I swallowed my self-esteem wrapped up in my daughter having a complete matching Halloween costume pride and put brown shoes on her and she could not have been happier.

Rhett had some minor issues here and there but the main one was the drawing on of his lion nose and whiskers. When I presented the idea to him he couldn't be more happy about it but right when I was about to put the black eyeshadow on his nose he decided against it. At this point I was kind of hyped on the idea and was not going to take no for an answer. Although he felt the color choice was poor he finally relented after I agreed to have a black nose and whiskers and rabbit ears myself. Looking back now I realize it was not worth the effort of walking around all night feeling foolish much less having to scrub my face later before bed for 30 minutes straight to get the stuff off. Next year I will listen to the voice that tells me to stop while I'm ahead and remember I'm not the dressing up type.

At one point in the evening Rod was video recording Rhett and asked him what he was doing. He replied, "EATING CANDY." After that Rod asked him what night it was and he said, "CANDY." And then knowing Rhett would get this answer correct he asked him where we were at and he said, "CANDY.....church." Clearly looking at the chocolate faces of my lion and ladybug the evening was a grand success by their standard.

Back Home

We were home from the beach all of thirty seconds when I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by oh, maybe 5 trillion ants. On the bright side the clean up was so intense I was inspired to deep clean every nook and cranny of my kitchen which was very much needed. First thing tomorrow I will finally take the advice of two very smart friends and invest in some ant traps from Home Depot.

We enjoyed our time at the beach immensely. Many times while working at this thing called motherhood I feel alone drowning under piles of laundry, ANTS, dirty diapers, screaming children, screaming children and more screaming children. There are rare moments when I come up for a breath of fresh air while laughing with the kids or watching them learn something new and delighting in it but frankly those moments are few and far between. Being away this past week truly refreshed my soul. We stayed in a small villa/condo that was not really big enough to get overwhelmingly messy. There was no laundry or ants but lots of fresh air and fun times with my kids and husband. We still had lots of dirty diapers and some screaming every now and then but it was much more manageable in that setting.
Here is a picture of the view that was out of our balcony.

It's still good to be home in some ways. Like last night putting Emmie to bed in her room and crib with the door shut knowing she will finally get a good nights sleep. On our trip she was either sleeping in the bathroom or the room we all shared but she's such a lite sleeper if any of us even blinked our eyes she would wake up. Rhett is getting re-aquainted with all of his toys and I'm getting re-aquainted with the internet. While away I FINALLY kicked this stomach virus I've been battling for almost a month. I plan on using my new healthy energy this week to embrace the domestic goddess within me and shape up my home. Lot's of cleaning and hopefully painting the bathroom. I'm also excited about watching all of the season premieres especially the Office and Friday Night Lights. To wrap it up I'll end this post with some pictures and learnings from the beach!

1. Playing in closets can be just as much fun as going to the beach or pool.

2. Fresh baked cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate should be on of the five basic food groups.

3. Naps and long walks are very good things.

4. If you're one and a half riding an elevator can be just as exhilerating as a roller coaster at Magic Mountain.

5. Daddy's are little boys heros no matter where they are, on vacation or at home they can't get enough time with them.

6. Laying in the sand making sand angels while watching the sunset can cure all of lifes problems.

7. One of my favorite quotes from Karen Hughes book 10 Minutes from Normal, "I've learned while raising my children there is no such thing as quality time; there is only time, and if you spend enough of it, some of it turns out to be quality."

First Day of School

Last year Rhett started pre-school in the 3 year old class with Mrs. Batol (which happens to be her first name since all teachers at his school go by their first name.) It was a bit of a transition for him and some days it was a struggle to get him there but we all survived. Here is a picture of him last year with his teacher.
This past week he started his first week of his second year of pre-school. His teacher's name is Mrs. Teresa and apparently he will be learning how to write both capital and lower case letters as well as speaking some Spanish. So far this year is off to a great start. When I dropped him off on the first day as I was standing there watching my baby find his seat in class to begin painting he looked up at me and said, "leave now Mom!" Can't you feel the sentiment. Sometimes going back the second day is rougher than the first but the next morning after breakfast he said, "when are we leaving? I don't have to finish watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." If you knew my son and his obsession with all things Disney you would know what a miracle this is. Here is a picture of him at my moms on the first day.

Family Beach Day

Almost four years ago I started taking Rhett to the park once a week. A couple friends had started doing this a few years prior and I joined them mainly to expose my baby to the park and engage in some adult conversation as a recently new mom. Little did I know this would grow into time spent with some of my closest and dearest friends (and with the exception of my sister the only people that comment on this blog). Four years later one of my weekly must do things is take the kids to the park so they can run around outside and play with their friends and I can sit in the shade and catch up with my friends.



As sacred as "park day" is, during the summer due to the warmer weather we usually move our get together coastal and meet at the beach for the day. Last year at the end of summer we decided to have a "family beach day" so our husbands/dads could participate in our weekly ritual.

Here is a picture of the kids last year August 2006 at La Jolla Cove -Family Beach Day

Here is a pictue of the "park ladies" last year August 2006 at La Jolla Cove- Family Beach Day

A year later the tradition remains. After a year of going to the park every week and lots of other fun stuff we met at La Jolla Cove again in August.

"Park ladies" August 2007



Kids shot- August 2007 Thanks to the Berry Clan and brand new baby Ty the picture is growing

Here is the hubby shot. They don't usually make it to the park or the beach as much as we do but they understand the importance of our community

More Pictures....

This is a picture of Lake Arrowhead. We went up for the day this past Wednesday. We had lunch at the Country Club, took a boat ride around the lake (Rhett got to drive the boat), walked through some shops and had dinner at the Yaht Club. It was a long day but a great one.

This is a picture of the tomato/cheese Komachi knife my mother in law bought me at Sharper Image. It turns cutting tomatoes into a very pleasurable experience. I'm serious you have to try it. You will never want to use anything else again.

Here is the Ice Shaver machine Koko and Auntie brought from Hawaii. It's super easy to use and so easy to clean up since you're just using water. Our favorite so far is cherry and blue rasberry over vanilla ice cream. Rhett and I have been praising God for this thing every hot night this past week.

Had to throw in a picture of my new shoes my mom bought me on sale at Banana Republic. They're just my style and I love them. I'm planning on wearing them all the time.

DISNEYLAND!!

Withdrawls but Worth It

I'm starting to have withdrawls from not being around the blog world for a week and missing some of my favorite reads. I'm planning on catching up in a week or so. Meanwhile we are having tons of fun with Koko and Auntie from Hawaii. We have been to the beach, movies, Fashion Valley for new Crocs, had snow cones with vanilla ice cream every night to stay cool along with some yummy dinners and a very full day at Knotts Berry Farm.

Tomorrow after church we are celebrating Riley's big 1 birthday. Afterwards we are heading straight up to LA for some swimming and more shopping. Monday morning we are tackling Rhett's favorite place on the planet.

Have a good week. Here is a collage from the beach and Knotts Berry Farm.

WHAT'S ON THE CAMERA?????

So I just downloaded some pictures from my camera and knew y'all would be so interested in seeing what the happs have been around here this past month.

4th of July at the Parade on Coronado Island with Nana

Just thought I would take a picture since my mom was so enthusiastic about them. But then again she was enthusiastic about everything. Each time a new band paraded by or a new genre of music she would say, "oh look Rhett their my favorite" and stand up and cheer. When she told Rhett to stand in respect for the Navy band and of coarse that they're her favorite he said, "Nana, you have a lot of favorites."

Cameron Faiai came over a few weeks ago. I found them in the garage in my car. I like how my ever so cautious son made sure to wear his seatbelt.I asked Cameron where he was driving Rhett to and he said, "grandma's house." Rhett replied,"no Cameron, first drive me to my Nanas house and then to your grandma's house." Here you are girls. A couple future heart throbs in the making but you will have a few rather mature ladies to compete with.

Things are pretty simple in Emmie Kate's world. This picture sums up her existence right now......EATING.

An evening snack and card game with the Seidman kids, Josh, Abbie and Bekah . They spent the night this past Thursday and Rhett was pretty much ecstatic the entire time they were here.

There they are folks. If your name is listed as one of the blogs I read I tag you to post the last five pictures on your camera.