Seashells n' Snowflakes

Road trip

2012-01-30T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is how we entertain ourselves on road trips. haha. It takes us 3 hours to get across the island to the other side. More on that later.

Micah is pointing out different types of lava to Zadok. Mason Jennings is playing in the background. Odin is lifting up Jonah's leg over and over. ARE WE THERE YET?

gecko buddies

2012-01-30T00:53:00.001-08:00

We all go nuts over these cute, little Day Geckos. What's there NOT to love about them? They are bright green with colorful spots, they live in your house and eat all the roaches, and when you catch one, it sticks onto you with it's adorable gecko toes.

Here's Odin trying to let baby Jonah "gently" touch the Gecko buddy without damage.

Have you hugged your gecko today?

33

2012-01-29T21:14:00.000-08:00

Today I turned 33 and it was such a lovely day. I realized today, that from here on out, my birthdays are going to belong to my boys! They were more excited about it than I was, so I couldn't help but be super excited, too. They couldn't wait to wish me a happy birthday when I woke up in the morning, and then all day long they had special hugs and surprises for me. The presents and meals they planned were orchestrated by Micah, who made sure the boys could follow their plans to throw me the happiest birthday possible. I felt so special to be surrounded by such a loving family.

It feels weird sometimes to be an official adult. Sometimes I still imagine myself as the awkward 17 year old kid I used to be. Thank goodness I am who I am today!
Here's a few thoughts I had today as I was thinking about my adult self, the 33 year old one:

**I am an adult.

**I like being a purely honest person. There was a time in my past when I felt okay exaggerating stories or "finding" things that didn't belong to me, or making excuses for myself. Whatever the situation, I knew when I wasn't being honest and it tugged at my heart. I have made a commitment to myself to always be truthful and honest in life, no matter how big or how little, and it has made a huge difference in my confidence.

**I'm a lot more moody and temperamental than I thought I would be. I think my whole life people told me I was always the happy, positive one who never let anything bother her. Maybe someone should've mentioned that adult people are not the same as young people and they can't be expected to stay the same. Adult Sally gets bothered, oh yes she does, and can be downright bitchy at times.

**I still love running. When my feet hit the pavement I feel bliss, pure bliss.

**I hate having a messy house. When my house is cluttered, my whole brain feels cluttered. I spend a lot of time cleaning and organizing, and it makes me happy. Although if you saw my house right now you would think I was lying, so right after I get off this computer, it's tidy up time.

**I feel grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have learned over the years that you never have to try and "fit in" or label yourself, if you live your life for the Lord. He will lead you, and guide you towards the person you need to be, and that person will be happy. And cool. And fun. And have lots of friends.

**Becoming a wife and mother has been my refiners fire of all fires. Anyone who wishes to become a better person should have kids and be married. They have taught me how to do all the things I sucked at, such as being patient, being tolerant, being compassionate, being understanding...Plus how to communicate effectively, how to problem solve, how to be nice, selfless, and make food that isn't gross. I am so grateful for my family because they have molded me into something better than before.

**I have a lot of talents to share that won't be recognized by the world, but will benefit my family and those I serve around me. I will never be rich or famous, and I will probably never make it onto a reality TV show. (darn!) But I know I will always have love around me, and be surrounded by good people.

**I want to write a book someday. I can only type with 2 fingers at a time (yes, I know...embarrassing) and I don't have any time to write a book, but it's a little dream of mine. It's nice to have dreams, even if that's all they are.

**Bananas are still my comfort food. I have to limit myself or we run out too fast around here. Have you had your banana today? MMmmmmmm.

**I am pleased with how my hair turned out. It's kind of long and curly and I'm trying to take good care of it. If you knew me in high school or my young surfing days you would be proud of me because It was burnt and fried and I never brushed it.

**I am happy with who I am at this stage in life, yet always open to changes on my journey. I trust God to take me where I need to go.

** I never want to feel the affects of self-inflicted sorrow. I want to always make good choices in life, so I don't have to make myself or anyone around me sad. I know that sounds weird, but I think it's a real truth to live by. There will be plenty of sadness in life, just by virtue of being mortal and having natural challenges come our way.
I want to do all I can to bring a solid foundation of happiness, goodness, and peace into my life and to those lives I love around me. That's not too hard now is it? Just follow God's commandments, and goodness will follow.

** I am an adult who loves to have fu-u-un. I will always love to laugh and be silly. That's the truth!

Happy to live hawaii

2012-01-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we found ourselves at Honoli'i beach at 8am, where a large river meets the pounding surf. When we got there we were surprised to find that their was an actual sandy beach at Honoli'is where there is normally river! The tide was low, and the large, winter surf had moved things around a bit to form a beach. It was magic!
We had so much fun and stayed til 1pm, swimming and playing!
It was a beautiful day. One of those days where I got to just relax, look around at my family, and be grateful to live in beautiful Hawaii. Here are some of the happy highlights from our day:

-Paddling out on my longboard and catching two fun waves in a row on a glassy, sunny morning.
-Zadok pointing to the water in the river and saying excitedly,"Look Mom, it's your favorite color, turquoise!" And then us jumping in the clear, turquoise water with a splash!
-Laying on the warm, river rocks with Odin, soaking up the warm sun. Odin turned to me and asked,"Mom, do you like lying here with me?" So I answered, "Of course I do, this is wonderful!" And he said,"Good, me too, me, too." And we lied there and basked in the sun together next to the ocean.
--Watching Micah paddle around in the water on a surfboard. Never thought I'd see the day where my husband on a surfboard!
-Helping the boys stand up on my surfboard in the calm water, so they could get a feel for the board. Zadok balanced really well on his two feet. Odin felt more comfortable paddling on his tummy.
-Stopping at the farmers market to buy fruit and watching as Jonah literally lunged out of his stroller to grab a banana from one of the stands. A nice Filipino woman selling bananas came over and gave him one. He sat there and shoved that banana in his mouth real fast! Then when I bought a musubi, he wanted some really bad. We watched as he happily shoved bits of rice in his mouth.
-Coming home sunburnt, tired, but refreshed and energized and so happy to live Hawaii. :)

Hawaii is really beautiful. There are places here that simply take my breath away.
I stand still and look up at the great big canopies of green trees and the vibrant, colorful leaves on the bushes, and am in awe. I am overcome at how all this beauty could be stored up and placed in one location. It seems unfair to the ugly parts of the world, like maybe Hawaii should spread it's beauty over to the barren deserts of New Mexico or something.
But maybe that's because Hawaii is a special place to me. Ever since I was a little girl I felt like this was Heaven on Earth. In fact, when I had thought I wasn't ever moving back, I used to ask God in my prayers to please make sure heaven was just like Hawaii so I could enjoy it again when I die. I know...silly, but that's how much I love it here.

The leaves on this bush have always been my favorite. When I was a little girl I took a whole bunch of them and sent them to my friend on the mainland. I remember asking her if she got my colorful leaves in the mail? She laughed and told me no, but she got some brown, rotten ones. I guess they don't ship well.

my daily laugh

2012-01-24T23:19:00.000-08:00

As I was sorting through a stack of papers the other morning I stumbled across this quote I had saved. It said,

"If you can't find time everyday to read your scriptures, you are busier than God ever intended you to be."

I thought it looked like a nice reminder to do the things I know will help me the most, to bless and uplift my life, so I copied it down on a piece of paper with a big, green marker. I posted it right above my kitchen white-board, with all the other daily reminders and messages. After all, I love to read my scriptures!

Several hours into the day I realized I still hadn't read any verses because when I first woke up my 3 year old had been yelling for me to come help him from his wet bed that he had peed pretty heavily. It took me a moment to haul all the soiled laundry outside to the washer. Then after that my toddler woke up, clinging onto me for his morning milkies. As I sat on the couch nursing, my five year old emerged, hungrily begging for breakfast in the kitchen. So, I started cooking pancakes and got everyone served when I noticed toddler was doing his usual throwing everything everywhere. I promised I would clean the mess up later, and hoped no one would step on the banana pieces on the carpet.
As the day went on I had some fun games planned for the kids, which we managed to get through in between snacks, meals, hanging the laundry (so we would have clean sheets later on), wiping butts, deescalating tantrums, and taking them to the dentist for their first time. When we finally got home at 6:30pm that evening, we rushed through dinner, threw the kids into the bath, and I tried to clean up the banana pieces from in-between Jonah's toes. Micah wasn't home, yet, because he had a seminar to attend, so I was left with all 3 kids for bedtime. I tried my hardest to keep my 3 year old from crying because his dad wasn't there to brush his teeth, so I put on a Star Wars movie. Meanwhile my toddler really wanted to nurse...again, and my five year old wanted me to cuddle him, which wasn't really possible to do, but I tried my hardest. At 10'o clock at night we finally got everyone to sleep, until my toddler woke up with painful gas, and needed me to hold him and rock him to sleep. As I was rocking him on my shoulder in the kitchen I looked up at that quote, and laughed!
I ripped it off the wall and threw it in the trash. What a stupid quote!
I mean, who said that anyways? Someone without kids?

Then I calmly reminded myself that raising my children IS the Lords work, and I would try to read my scriptures tomorrow.......
I'm also making a real effort to not be so hard on myself lately, and to remember that raising children is stinking hard work. Love it, and cherish it, but dang, it's hard! Not everything goes as planned each day, I often have no time to breathe sometimes,and it's okay. I'll be okay and You'll be okay, and the kids will most definitely be okay. But man, when I do get the chance to read those scriptures, God instantly gives me the peace I need to go another day.

Here's some sweet fruits of my labors:

Ain't they cute as pie? I think so.

expectations

2012-01-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've been struggling with myself lately, and it's been really hard. I tried turning off all the noise, and letting myself dig really, really deep to find out what has been truly bothering me and frustrating me. I took a serious look at my family, my husband, my kids, and everything around me, trying so desperately to figure out what I/we/them/everyone was doing wrong to make me so miserable. Until finally I realized that the one thing making life so hard was the this monster I created out of everything together, called EXPECTATIONS.
So, today I am throwing out all my expectations and starting over. I am rewinding the past 6 months and starting fresh.
I was starting to think there was something wrong with me, or my whole life! I was starting to wonder why it was so hard for me to make connections here, and to find friends. I was starting to wonder why every day was becoming a struggle to keep my head on strait, to know who I am and what I stand for, and to simply enjoy my little family.
When we got here, I threw myself into all the same groups, and clubs, and avenues of social networking. I put myself out there to make friends, and be a friend. I went the extra mile to collect people into our lives and reach out to those around us. But none of it was clicking, or sticking, or connecting. It was starting to seem like a big, fat waste of time and energy.
I made a HUGE realization this past week that we can't always do things the same and receive the same happy results. At points in our lives we have to turn a whole new direction, grow a whole different way, and find a new path. I didn't realize my path was turning so rapidly, so it caught me by complete surprise.
So here I am in a whole new place, a whole new culture, surrounded by rain forest, and rugged beauty, and surprising new turns for my life, throwing out my expectations and starting anew.

Change is good, I say. Especially if it brings you closer to happiness, and to the person you are supposed to be. Especially if it brings you closer to what the Lord has planned for you.

easy, Lentil Coconut Curry

2011-12-30T17:40:00.001-08:00

I made this recipe up one day out of the contents of my cupboard. It is the most delicious, and most easy Indian curry ever, and I love it. In the past 3 months I've served it to company 3 times, and have made it for my family 5 times. My family likes it, and I end up eating all the leftovers, which makes me extra happy.

INGREDIENTS:
2 large carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 large potatoes, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of frozen peas
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup dried green lentils
4 cups liquid, as in water or stock
4 teaspoons flavored bouillon, as in chicken or veggie
2 heaping tablespoons Yellow Curry seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft.
Throw in liquid, bouillon, curry seasoning, coconut milk, sugar, and lentils.
Stir it all up, then throw in chopped veggies and stewed tomatoes. Stir some more.

Bring to a rolling boil then let simmer for 45 minutes, until lentils and taters are soft. Serve over brown or jasmine rice.
Enjoy!

The Cocos and the Nonos

2011-12-29T12:10:00.000-08:00

Zadok, our very creative and inquisitive 5 year old, keeps asking us lately,"How can I make some money around here?" He is learning the value of earning money and saving it for something special. He's not sure what he would like to buy with his money, but his desire to make some extra money and stash it away is very strong. He is hoping to sell tomatoes at the Farmers Market next season. He also says he will wash anyone's car that comes over. His latest idea was to write stories and sell them on the computer.

He says you can have one of his stories, complete with 3 pages of illustrations for just 2 dollars or 1 dollar.
Comment me your email and I will send you our mailing address. In return you will get this original Zadok story in the mail, yours to keep forever.

The story is called:
THE COCOS and the NONOS fight over a COCONUT.
First, two guys were fighting over one coconut. So they built a wall that went all around the world that each side could not get past. One side was the Coco people and the other side was the Nonos.
But then the Cocos and the Nonos decided to go back and share the coconuts because they realized there was a bunch of trees anyways. Then everyone got their hammers out. All the Cocos and all the Nonos started to bam the wall down with their hammers. Then there was peace again in the land and the two guys that were fighting over the one coconut each shared one half. THE END

Mele Kalikimaka!

2011-12-23T22:32:00.000-08:00

Our family attempted to send out Christmas cards and family updates this holiday season, and half-succeeded! Which means I was disappointed to realize halfway through the month, that our cards turned out dark and hard to read, that we lost most of our families addresses, and that someone-I-won't-mention-(baby Jonah) didn't give me enough time to write personalized messages inside them. So, if you didn't get a card, or hated the one we sent, don't feel bad because this blog is reaching out to you and giving you a BIG, Mele Kalikimaka (((virtual))) hug! Merry Christmas! We love you!
The Jackson 5 in the jungle:

The Star Wars Episode:
Beach=happy kids:
Hope your Christmas is merry and bright! Can't wait to browse around and look at everyone else's family pictures!

Surf Mama

2011-12-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

Last week Tuesday my husband convinced me to drop what I was doing and go do something just.for.me.
He could see the tired rings around my eyes, the drooping face, and that look that says, "If I don't get some time to myself right now I might fly to China or join the circus, or both."(Chinese circus performers are pretty amazing, actually)
So I got in the car and headed towards the surf.
Afterall, I am a surfer.

Well, I used to be a surfer.

I was nervous driving to the beach. I've only surfed twice since we moved here, and both times the waves were gentle and small, just a friendly frolic in the sea.
Driving to the beach today, I knew the waves would be much bigger. I tried to convince myself (for a second) that I should take this time to go shopping instead, but I knew I needed to get in the water. I knew I needed to recharge in the ocean and I could feel it deep down in my soul.

So I gave myself a pep-talk on the way to the beach to help ease my nerves, which went something like this:

"You can do this! You may have been living in the desert for a while, but surfing is in your veins. You KNOW what to do. You know how to paddle,and duck dive, and drop in, and ride. You know how to surf, and you can!"

When I pulled up to the surf spot it was crowded with lines of cars and spectators, all checking the waves below. I found a parking spot overlooking the surf, where I could sit and decide if I really wanted to paddle out or not.

It was bigger than I thought it would be, with waves rolling thru at two separate spots. The waves were "overhead", meaning the top of the wave was higher than the top of my head, about 6-8 feet overall. I looked towards the shoreline to see a group of young kids riding the "white wash", which is what's leftover from the larger waves once they've crashed and decreased in size and energy.
I learned how to surf in the whitewash when I was a young kid, but as an adult and more experienced surfer, I scoffed at the whitewash. "Ha!" I thought, "You won't catch ME riding the white wash, I can surf better waves than that!"

My pep-talk in the car must've really worked because I decided, with confidence, that I was ready to paddle out into the bigger surf!
So I grabbed my longboard, put my leash around my ankle, and glided onto my belly, straight out towards the crashing waves. That old familiar feeling came over me, of anticipation and excitement of what was ahead. I was pumped and ready to take on these waves; to show the world this Mama was back! This mama was surfing!(Okay so this is an old picture but I needed something here!)

Well, the waves were strong, and my muscles were weak! The crashing surf was pushing me across the beach and onto shore faster than I could paddle. I also forgot I couldn't duck dive very easily with a nine foot longboard! Wave after wave was crashing over me, beating me down to the bottom, and twirling me in circles. By the time I paddled into position to catch one wave, my muscles were burning so bad that I just sat there, breathing heavily, until the wave passed over me. Every direction I turned there were giant sea turtles, floating effortlessly with the surf. I think they were catching more waves than me!
I let the white wash toss me and turn me as I paddled constantly against the rushing current. I finally got into position where I could paddle for a wave, and actually caught it! I was exhausted from all the paddling, but I paddled hard, dropped in, and that was it! The wave of the day! I rode this baby all the way across the shoreline, feeling the rush in my stomach and the freedom in my soul! I let out a big
"Woooooo-hooo!" My smile felt as big as my nine foot longboard. I was having so much fun!

Then...... I admitted to myself that I had never really left the whitewash and all the little kids were staring at me with smirks on their faces.

But, I'm so glad I got in the ocean that day. Yes, I used to be a surfer, and I am slowly working my way back there again. But, the difference between the young surfer Sally and the mama surfer Sally, is that I am just as happy being tossed around in the sea as I am catching perfect surf.
Recharging my soul, and feeling the energy of the waves all around me, is all I really need right now.

Girl Cousin

2011-12-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

My sister Leilani came to visit with her 2 1/2 year old daughter, Waimea. Here is a picture of the cousins together.
It was really fun having a little girl in the house for the week!
Although she fit right in with my rowdy and reckless boys, she was still wearing pink, and had her hair in pig tails, which is something we don't see around here! My sister said I can't keep her, but I'd definitely like to borrow her more often in the future.
She's too cute. and a great mommy's helper! She always offered to push the stroller even when it was a large child named Odin that is too big for a stroller.
We're so happy they made the trek out here to Puna! Mahalo for coming girls!!

Christmas simple

2011-12-05T00:25:00.001-08:00

I try to keep the Christmas traditions simple and fun. I don't go crazy making crafts or spending money on decorations, and I stay away from websites and blogs that are overloaded with holiday glitz. It's too overwhelming and detracts from the purpose, in my opinion. I mostly just want our boys to get ready for Christmas by being reminded of what it means and how we celebrate it. Here's a few things we are doing:

I really like the advent calendar, which can be used in so many ways as a Christmas-countdown. Last year we pasted an ornament on a paper Christmas tree every day til Christmas! The boys took turns with the glue,, which I think was their favorite part. This year I toned it up a bit by making an advent calendar out of toilet paper rolls. (Odin painted every single one of these, by the way!)
We are stringing them up in our doorway and taking one tp roll down everyday til Christmas, starting on Monday the 5th...because I'm a little behind, hehe. (could that be a pun?)

Inside each tp roll is a scripture, and a thought or action for the day that will remind them of what Christmas is all about. I got the scriptures from here, originally from the LDS Friend magazine.

Another thing we are doing is a "Giving Jar". We put coins into a jar to keep in the car. It is to be used to give away to anyone we see who might be in need. The other day we spent 4 dollars buying ice for a family that was living out of their car and didn't have enough money to keep their groceries cold. They were very grateful and the boys are learning what it means to give.

I also made a giant "Nice tree" out of green construction paper, with a picture of Jesus on the star. Every time someone does something nice for someone else we write it down on a paper ornament and glue it onto the tree. I think it will be fun to read them all on Christmas day and see all the nice things we did this month for each other.

For Christmas decorations we are making construction paper decor, snowflakes to hang, and printing coloring pages of the story of Christs birth. On Christmas Eve we will use our pictures to tell the story of Jesus' birth. We did this last year at Grandma Sandy's house and it was really fun for the kids to be involved.

We have other traditions and are constantly adding more.I hope you are having fun and feeling the spirit of Christmas as you're getting ready for the big day! If you're like me and you like to stay stress-free over the holidays, I bet simple and fun is happening at your house, too. Enjoy!

recluse

2011-12-03T22:19:00.001-08:00

I've been feeling like a recluse lately, although it doesn't really feel like it in my real life, just my technology life.
I no longer have a cell phone, which means I never call anyone anymore. I miss calling people. And I kind of miss texting.
And since I quit facebook I don't see my long-distance friends faces so much. I miss friends. Only I don't miss facebook.
But in my real life I am so busy all-the-time that the thought of texting someone or checking statuses on facebook completely overwhelms me.
Most days all I can do is chase my toddler and feed my kids and meet our daily necessities of life before I crash to sleep on my really soft bed at 9pm, only to wake up at 6am to do it all over again.

Maybe in the future I will join the technology world again. But for now I am a techno-recluse.

I need a diary

2011-12-03T22:11:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, I keep writing really long, personal, and meaningful posts and then deciding later I didn't want to publish them. I think it might be time to privatize my blog and turn it into a diary.

My beach fantasy

2011-11-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

It's true, we're not spending nearly as much time at the beach and in the ocean as I imagined we would when we moved our family Hawaii. We knew ahead of time that this area was going to be very different from my life on Oahu, where miles of white sand beaches and perfect surf, was something I just took for granted!
Over here, the beach is not a beach, it's rocks, as I mentioned before. But we've realized that this is only a small reason why we're not at the beach everyday. Other factors that contribute are: living 25 minutes away from any swimable ocean, living in the rain forest where it rains and pours almost daily, and having young children. The last one, of course being the biggest reason why I don't always jump at trekking down to the rocks with the kids by myself. It's exhausting!

This past week it was a beautiful, sunny day at our house, so I packed the car up with all the swimsuits, boogie boards, snorkel gear, fish nets, sunscreen and lunch food, and headed towards one of our favorite beaches in Hilo. However, 25 minutes later, we arrived at the beach in a downpour of rain. The kids didn't want to get out of the car, but I made them. "We're swimming!" I said, "I didn't drive all this way to sit in the car!"
Zadok and Odin decided it was okay, even with the sprinkling rain falling from the sky! So they hopped on their boogie boards and paddled around for a bit. It was very cute watching the brothers play together.......until 10 minutes later Odin decided he was too cold and he wanted me to dry him off, change his clothes, and feed him lunch. Simultaneously, Jonah decided he just wanted to run towards the parking lot, and have me chase him. And of course at that same time Zadok is yelling and whining from the water that he has no one to play with and he's bored.
So, I did what every overwhelmed and sane mother would do; I threw everyone back into the car and drove home!
Now, If you could have seen the inside of my car that day, you might've been very worried that our family was never going to be okay again.
There was Odin in the backseat screaming, Jonah in the middle car-seat crying, and Zadok sitting there scowling at me from the passenger seat, all-the-way-home. Then there was me in the drivers seat sobbing because all I wanted was to go the beach and have fun, yet I didn't even get my hair wet!

So you can see why I might be a little disappointed that we're not living out my beach-life fantasy here in Hawaii right now. It's a lot of hard work, and sometimes, I just don't wanna do it. I know it will get easier in time, especially as the boys get older.
I decided that the 10 years of living in Utah and Idaho has given me the patience I need to wait out this little-kid-land-sentence. Someday soon, these baby years will be gone behind us, and I will miss them dearly! Yet, I am totally looking forward to the many years ahead of awesome, beach adventures with our much older boys! My ultimate beach fantasy includes surfing, and snorkeling, and fishing, without drama and tears.

**Please stay tuned for a post titled "One million reasons why I LOVE Hawaii besides the beach."
**** And here's a picture of the older boys on land, happily climbing trees in the jungle.

Greeting the sun

2011-11-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

This morning, and several mornings these past few months, I've been rolling myself out of bed at 6am to greet the sun. It is beautiful out there with the pink sky awakening, and the black darkness disappearing into the brightest jungle-greens!

This past year I've stayed in bed as long as I could in the mornings, snuggling and nursing our little baby. I never felt the need to get up and greet the sun, not with a warm, squishy baby next to me! Yet now, as he is getting older, it feels good to have this time in the morning to myself.

I run as fast as I can, racing down the dirt roads, jumping over rocks and puddles, chasing the pink and purple sky til it turns to blue.

After my run this morning I came home to find everyone awake, the house full of the loud frenzy of little voices playing, Micah getting ready for work, and a toddler wanting to catch up on his milkies.
As I sat in the giant rocking chair nursing Jonah, my 5 year old started tickling my feet, my 3 year old started blowing bubbles on my arm, and my toddler started smacking me in the cheek while giggling through pursed, suckling lips. It was such a comical picture of how the rest of my day was going to go, with my 3 crazy, precious little boys.

I'm so glad I got that time to myself this morning, so I could have even more energy for this:

Have a blessed day!

October flew by

2011-11-09T22:04:00.000-08:00

And here's some pictures to prove it!

Our baby is now a GIANT baby. (15 mos)

He loves to hold his baby. (My Cabbage Patch kid from when I was little.)
He walks and runs and laughs and hits his brothers in the face with large objects. (they love it) He is always playing nearby, no matter what we are doing. Here Zadok is reading a book to Odin, while Jonah watches on:
He loves to swing and eat grapes and lay his cheek on your cheek for a hug.
He doesn't care to talk. He says a word that sounds like dog, but that's about it. It's a high pitched shreek that starts with a "d" when he sees a dog, so we'll count it. His older brothers do more than enough talking for him, so we're okay.
The neighbors always laugh when they drive by and see the baby asleep in his swing with nobody around. I promise I'm just right inside the house watching!

My Dad was here for a couple days from Oahu. We loved having him over! The first thing the boys said after he left was, "When is Grandpa coming back?"

And Halloween happened!
I was a Cockroach sticky-trap. I told all the kids that this BIG roach was in my kitchen that morning--We're lucky we got em!

The boys were black ninjas.
We had a big party at our house for all the homeschool kids in our group. It was so much fun! The following night our church had a huge party and trunk or treat. Then on actual Halloween, we took the boys trick-or-treating at the local mall.
Needless to say, they got lots of candy. And being the good parents we are, we let them eat it all.
Oh, and we charted the candy, for scientific purposes. Zadok really liked organizing, categorizing, and charting his sweets. It was good number-writing practice, too.

Lastly, we finally took the family down to Kahena beach, which is about 30 minutes south of our house. It's supposed to be one of the most gorgeous black sand beaches on the island! It's also known to be a nude beach, where a lot of illegal activity happens. You know, drugs, sex, and dogs that aren't kept on leashes......
I was a little nervous about taking the kids, but it turned out to be really nice. We went early in the morning, and the only thing we saw were some nice naked people swimming, and some nice dogs not on their leashes, so not bad. ;)

Baby Jonah fit right in at Kahena, with his cute, black sand buns!

Hope you had a Happy October, too! Although we are missing the falling leaves and changing colors of Autumn, I do have to say I love not being cold! Life is good.

Goodbye fb

2011-11-07T21:25:00.001-08:00

Not that I owe the world an explanation or anything, but I would be so sad if you thought I deleted you, so I'd just like to say, I am no longer on facebook.

Just thought I'd make an official announcement.

I've deleted my account in the past and then gone back, but this time I'm done for reals.
I knew this day would come, and after 3 years of being a regular facebooker, my time has come to an end.

Goodbye social networking world.

p.s. This is a really good thing, so be happy for me! You could even say it's a "positive change". (see below for details)

p.s.s I should also mention that I have an account just for groups and activities, so that I don't miss out on meet-ups. It has no friends, and sends me email updates.

Making positive changes!

2011-11-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

I've been meeting a lot of people, since we've been here, that have moved to Hawaii to improve their life circumstances. Things just weren't "working out" for them, they'd say, as I've listened to stories of past relationship troubles, to job troubles, to bad environments, and family issues. But, they continue to tell me, that since coming to Puna everything has "just fallen into place and worked out for the good."

I really like this thought.

And I know it's not Hawaii that magically removes problems, because problems have the potential to follow us everywhere, but I think that if you open your heart to good, positive changes, and go searching for the good changes you need, then yes, the world gives back to you, everything falls into place, and works out. For a lot of people here, Hawaii is synonymous with positive change, which makes this place extra special.
I have met a lot of people lately that are overflowing with this happiness and good energy. I have felt the influence of these people in my soul, and I am grateful for them.
Since I've been here, I have even felt this really happy, positive energy move through me, that I haven't felt for a long time. I've been able to shake off a lot of negative experiences I've had in these past years as we've been trying to figure everything out, and focus on surrounding myself with only goodness. Good people, good surroundings, and the making of good memories! It feels really good to feel truly happy.

In the past I've let stress build up walls of ugliness around me, and I've dug deep holes of negativity where I have sat for days. I've let bad anxiety fill my soul, as I've sat in my dark hole, cursing everyone around me. I was always able to blame my feelings on the freezing snow, or the small apartment, or the lack of support from my husband, as he was always away from us at work.
But since we've been here, I have nowhere to dig a hole when I start feeling bad. I have nowhere and no one to blame my ugly, stressy attitude on, but myself. Since I've been here I have had to look at myself honestly in the face, and say,"I need to make positive changes for the good."

This past week when I started feeling stressed about something, I didn't do the right thing. I took my anger out on someone else in a negative way, which resulted in a huge train wreck of emotions for all parties involved. Although I didn't intend to cause such havoc, I did. And whoa, do I regret it. I feel bad for saying what I said. If I could put my whole foot in my mouth, I would, and then I would give my foot to the offended. But all I can really offer is an "I'm sorry."
Sadly, though, I received some really painful, cruel, and extremely hurtful insults that weren't expected. You know, the kind of insults that would make someone want to crawl into a dark hole and never come out. Basically, I feel like I poked someone with a sharp pin, and they turned around and stabbed me with 1000 knives. ouch.

So this past week had the potential to be really hard for me (as well as the offended, of course). It had the potential to force me to build walls up around myself of sadness, and anger. There were moments when I would ruminate those insults in my head, and feel those painful words cut me deeply again. I would start to stress out, and beat up on myself, thinking," You wretched, mean person, why can't you keep your mouth shut! Look what trouble you caused!"

But, right when I'd start to feel really bad about it all, there came people from my neighborhood and community bursting into my life, overflowing me with happiness and goodness!
People seemed to come out of nowhere, reminding me with their big smiles and positive energies that it's okay that people like me make mistakes, that people are forgiven, and that people can still strive towards goodness. After all, this is Puna, where people come to change, and find happiness.

This morning I took the boys on a long walk down our street. As I was beginning to put all these thoughts together in my head, I started to second-guess myself, like maybe I have been over-exaggerating the uncanny-ness of all these happy encounters.
But then a neighbor I had never before seen or met came bursting out of her front door to introduce herself and give my kids chocolate mochi. Her happy smile lightened up my morning and validated my story. So, yes, God and the universe are trying to tell me something.

I am trying to look at myself honestly, I really am. I am trying to remove the negativity from my mind, which allows me to ruminate on negative thoughts, and allows me to feel overwhelmed and stressed at times. And especially, the negativity which allows me to hurt those around me.
I am determined to bombard any negativity with goodness, making room for the positive changes I need in my life.

If I have ever offended you, I am sorry.

If it helps, just think of me in Puna, bursting with goodness and positive energy, making the changes I need to stay happy, and maybe you'll forgive me.

heavy rains

2011-11-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

The rain is coming down hard right now, as I stare out our kitchen windows. All of the windows in this house are really large, and none of them have glass coverings.
So, when it rains hard like this, we can barely hear each other talk. We have to turn off all media, or mute it until the rain calms down again. The rain is loud and heavy, and bangs hard on our metal roof. I like how it makes us all stop and look at it, like it doesn't want us to forget it's there.

When we first moved here it really startled me, and I couldn't sleep at night. It made me feel claustrophobic at first, like the snow used to make me feel. However, I knew I would get used to it again. After-all, I had lived with this rain all my life, and it wasn't cold.

Now as I'm looking out the window at this rain, I see the green growth all around it, and the gift of life it is giving to the earth. I can see little, freshly sprouted trees and vines poking up from the ground.
And right when it seems like the rain won't stop, and the trees and bushes, and little sprouts are shouting, "Enough!", It lets up a little, and allows us to all to keep going about our day.

I love the rain today. I love the banging on the roof and the pounding on the earth. I love the green jungle all around me that is blooming and growing, and always thirsting for more.

I love the sounds of my family, as we gather in the living room to play; media turned off, lights turned off, listening and enjoying the many rhythmic sounds of life, here in the rain forest.

Uniting homeschoolers....

2011-10-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the info for a party I've been organizing. If you know me, then you know I love parties, and homeschooling, and homeschooling parties.

Aloha Big Island Homeschoolers!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 12th! 11am-4pm, Potluck at noon.
We've reserved the pavillion on Coconut Island in Hilo Bay,for the 1st annual
"Hilo Homeschool Potluck!"

Come meet with other homeschoolers on the Big Island of Hawaii for a celebration of
homeschooling. Help build a community to support, inspire, and encourage one another on our journey.Come meet new friends and allow opportunities for our keiki to connect.

Feel free to spread the word and invite all the homeschooling families you know,
or even those interested in homeschooling and want to find out more!
*Please bring a dish to share, and whatever else you'll need for a fun day at
Coconut Island. There is swimming, jumping tower, a field for soccer and
frisbee, sidewalks for bikes, tree climbing...etc.

Hope to see you there!! RAIN or SHINE.

Email or Call me, Sally, with questions: (808) #@#-##@#

3am catch up

2011-10-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

Geez, I've been waking up a lot lately at 3 am with anxiety, getting myself out of bed, and then catching up on friends blogs and emails! I have a lot on my mind lately, and sometimes can't sleep.
It's not bad anxiety, though. It's good energy that leaves me feeling excited and restless.
I used to do this a lot in high school when I was anticipating a concert. I remember being up all night with stomach jitters, the night before seeing Bad Religion (for the 3rd time!) Nowadays it's not mosh pits and punk music I'm anxious about, it's homeschooling parties, Zumbathons, and La Leche League meetings. There's a lot of fun to be had with life, and I am stoked to do it!
I guess these 3 am catch-ups help me balance out my day, and send me back to bed feeling calmer.
And I would go back to bed right now if the rain wasn't so loud. The rain here comes down in thunderous blasts that jolt you awake and make you think the sky is falling! The first time it happened I woke up and thought it was the end of the world.
Ahhhh, jungle life. Good news is that the kids sleep right thru it, while I lie awake thinking about mosh pits and punk music...I mean babies and rumba.

ripe fruit

2011-10-07T08:23:00.001-07:00

Odin loves picking fruit. He cracks me up on a daily basis because every day he tries so hard to convince me that there is ripe fruit to pick, even when there isn't.

"Mooooom, I see some ripe tangerines out the window."

"No Odin, those are still green, and not ripe, yet."

"Nope, they are riiiiiipe, I see some orangey on there."

"No Odin, they are still green, and are not ripe, and we don't want to pick fruit til they're ripe because they won't taste sweet."

"But Moooooooom, I promise they are ripe! Please can I pick one? Pleeeeease? Pleeeeease? I just know they are ripe. I know it!"

"No, Odin. You know they aren't ripe."

"But, but, but, I want to pick fruit!"

So we end up going outside and picking whatever we can find that's ripe. There's always guavas to pick. I let him pick as many avocados as he wanted the other day and he went nuts-- Like a kid in a candy store, until he decided that the Starfruits were ripe, which they weren't yet, so we started all over again. "Mooooooooom....."

Such a funny kid! Here's a picture of Odin in the garden, staring longingly at some ripe green beans that were ready to be picked. Oh happy day for Odin!!:

3 boys

2011-10-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

It seems that everywhere I go with my kids, people make comments about having 3 boys. They are mostly super positive, with remarks about how blessed, how lucky, and how wonderful it is to have 3, healthy, little boys. How sweet it is, as a mother, to hear comments like this! Then every once in a while someone will ask, "So what's it like to raise 3 little boys? Is it crazy or what?" haha.
Yes, it's crazy. It's non-stop wonderful, bless-ed, craziness, and I love it! Some days are difficult, with anger and emotions flying everywhere. Some days are overly hyper-active, with messes and chaos everywhere. Most days are really loud.
Most days I lie on the floor and let them tackle me and sit on me because I am defeated in all other areas of life. :)
Everyday is special because my little boys are special to me!

Here's a few things we've been up to as we live our daily boy adventures:

Daily walks in the jungle that we call our street:

A little hike on Onomea trail:

A fortress in the living room, for little boys to crawl:

Everyday is a hot day in the yard, so that means lots of playing in the pool:
Our little friend (on the right) came over to play and swim, too.

A Pirate Party! Pirate hats, pirate necklaces, pirate songs, and pirate games, just because. Oh, and lots of AaaaAaaaaarghs:

And here's me, learning how to take care of myself and not get too burnt out on my highly intensive boy-rearing lifestyle.
There are essentially six things I have to do in order to maintain sanity:
1. Get regular exercise (I'm loving Zumba as of lately)
2. Have healthy, wholesome foods on hand
3. Get 8 hours sleep
4. Fill my daily-spiritual cup with prayer and scriptures
5. Make time to prepare and plan and make lists
6. Loving support and teamowork with my husband

Ready to take on little boy world!

General Conference, a spiritual marathon

2011-10-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

Every 6 months the Prophet, 12 Apostles, and spiritual Leaders of our church give inspiring speeches to the members all over the world, via TV, internet, and radio. It is called General Conference, and I look forward to it every time! They prepare these wonderfully inspiring talks, which send messages of hope, peace, love, and spiritual motivation to all that will listen.

This past weekend we spent two days, and a total of 8 hours, listening to the messages of the gospel. It's like running a spiritual marathon! Only you're not totally exhausted at the end, you are spiritually renewed and more excited than ever! My mind has been mentally running for the past two days, and I feel like I need express my happiness for a moment in this space.

Obviously, with young children our whole family couldn't all sit down for 8 hours, so Micah and I took turns watching and listening. During some of the sessions I sat at the table with the kids and worked on General Conference coloring packets . (Did you see president Eyrings pink suit up there? Awesome!) During others, one of us took the kids outside to play and then switched. Overall, General Conference is a very special time for our family, something we look forward to, and will continue doing for many years to come.

As one listens to the talks, it is a good idea to ask God in prayer to help you be inspired of the things you need to learn better, and become stronger in. There are so many areas of my life I need to be stronger in, and desire a renewed conviction in my testimony. I feel like this General Conference was so powerful for me, in confirming many truths about God that I already knew, but needed to have an even stronger conviction of in my heart. I am so grateful for this talk by Dieter F. Uchdorf, which was actually spoken to at our worldwide women's organization last week, but is still part of Conference.

Another one of the beautiful things about these talks is that they cover such a large variety of topics, and reach out to millions of people who are listening to them, but the end result is always the same for everyone, and that is happiness in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, and a renewed desire to be a better person.

This is the General conference link. Listen, watch, read, download it on your ipod. You won't regret it. :)

beyond humbled

2011-09-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

I feel like I can't express enough how grateful I am to be in our current situation.
I remind my family all the time how lucky we are. I say daily prayers of gratitude to my Father in Heaven for giving us these blessings. I tell our landlords frequently how happy we are that we met them and found this place to live. I bore my testimony at church, publicly acknowledging the prayers that have been answered and the blessings received, in order for us to be where we are right now. I retell the miraculous story of our moving to Hawaii to my friends, over and over again. And I think about the opportunities we've been given each day and feel peace and joy in my heart. So I guess this blog post is one last attempt to make sure I've said it enough: I am SO grateful to be where we are right now!!

I mean, we moved here not knowing what our whole futures would hold! We didn't know when Micah would get hired, which island he would get hired on, or if he even had a sure chance of getting hired! We flew over here with our kids, our luggage, and a big question mark hanging over our heads. Our "Flight of Faith" we called it.
We tried to make as many decisions as we could, which could influence the direction of our future, however, we didn't have complete control over the outcomes. It was scary at times. We started off by flying to the island we were hoping to get hired on, although it was very possible he could have been hired on another. We got familiar with the area we wanted to live in, although it was very possible we'd have to get situated somewhere else. We met some wonderful people when we got here and moved into their house, although we knew it was possible we'd have to move again.

When Micah got hired at the teaching job we wanted, it was one week after school started.(you know, right when we were giving up hope...) The school is 5 minutes away, on the island we wanted, in the area we wanted, near the house we wanted to stay in. It is still such a miracle to me that this happened to us!

And it's not like we're rolling around in riches over here like Uncle Scrooge McDuck, because Micah is a school teacher and I am a stay-at-home-mom!
We are extremely grateful because we have a roof over our heads, a healthy family, our own freedom and independence, food to eat, a steady income, and a beautiful place to call home.

In situations like this I feel beyond humbled to remember that my life is in the hands of someone more powerful, and more omnipotent than I can often understand. Knowing that my life is in the hands of my God, is more reassuring than anything else on this planet. I am so grateful to Him for blessing our lives so immensely. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my blog.

Ocean Diorama

2011-09-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

This might look like an ordinary box, but when opened up, it's an OCEANARIUM!
We have been working on this all week long! I woke up Monday morning thinking,"These kids need a new creative project to get their hands messy and their minds moving!!"
It's been fun for me to watch something unfold that the boys are proud of. As we've been exploring the beautiful and profound underwater reefs of Hawaii, the boys have been enthusiastic to talk and learn about all things sea creatures!
First, we went outside with paints, brushes, and imaginations!

The first day we painted and let everything dry.
Over the following days we colored paper sea creatures, glued on eyes, and made our urchins. Tp and paper towel rolls became sea cucumbers, eels, and freshwater-underground springs (Hilo inspired). Marbles, and sea-shells became treasures of the deep!
Toilet paper rolls make the cutest Octopi.
Sea Urchins or "Wana", as we call them here. I made a hard, salt dough, dyed blue, and the boys stuck pipe cleaners in them. This was a favorite, and easy for little boys with short attention spans.
"Watch out! This one is poisonous," says Zadok.

This was an inexpensive and fun project to keep the kids busy and actively learning about ocean life. Zadok asked me if next we could make a "Skyorama" for his paper dragon. :)

And the baby may participate....next time.

Back in the water

2011-09-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

An afternoon surf session at Honoli'is. It was small and friendly, perfect for getting "back in the water."

Waiting for a wave:

Paddling with a smile:

A happy, little ride:

Thanks Micah for surprising me with these pictures! "best Husband reward"

Impulsive

2011-09-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it pays to be impulsive, and sometimes it doesn't.

The other night as I was checking out from the grocery store I bought a chocolate candy bar. I wasn't even craving chocolate, but thought that since I had made it all the way to the grocery store without any kids in tow, I should treat myself to something tasty. So I impulsively purchased a Snickers with Almonds and ate it on the way home and (hid the wrapper). However, I didn't enjoy the candy bar one bit. It was overly artificially sweetened, tasteless, and disappointing. I wish I would've waited for a time when I really wanted chocolate and could've bought something fantastic, like Ferrero Rochers. In this case, my impulsiveness didn't pay off.

Then today I was remembering this time that I went to a hotel party in San Diego with some of my girlfriends, when I was in my early twenties.
The tiny hotel room was packed with mingling singles, all talking, laughing, and checking each other out. You know, a typical singles party.

So there's this guy at the party standing across from me who I didn't like the moment I set eyes on him. He was loud, arrogant, obnoxious, and hitting on every girl in the room. As the night wore on, my irritation increased. It kind of bugged me that I was letting this guy irritate me so much, but I think he just represented everything cheap and annoying about a lot of the guys I'd been meeting lately, and I was sick of it. There he stood in his expensive clothes, strong cologne, cheesy pick up lines, and spikey hair. Get real.

I was standing in a semi-circle with some of my girlfriends drinking a large glass of something bright orange, maybe some Tropical fruit punch or soda. This guy was now standing about 6 feet in front of me where I could now smell his smelly perfume and hear his un-funny jokes. I remember he was wearing a white T-shirt and thinking he was one of those guys that probably paid 50 bucks for a white t-shirt.

Then something weird happened; something I've never been able to explain.
Somebody must've accidentally bumped the light switch because suddenly the lights turned off in that tiny hotel room. And for 2 seconds it was pitch black.

And during those 2 seconds of darkness, my bright orange fruit drink impulsively flung across the room right into the middle of that guys white t-shirt.

When the lights turned on, the room turned silent, except for angry words that came fuming out from his mouth, "Who the Effing who, threw this drink at me? Who?"

Nobody answered.

"WHO?" he screamed again. "Whoever threw this drink at me is going to get their ass kicked!!!" he screamed louder.

The room turned into a commotion as everyone started asking around, looking for the culprit who dared to throw their drink at him.
I joined right in, looking just as concerned as everyone else, wondering out loud, "Who would do such a thing?"

But nobody would fess up, and nobody would say who it was, because nobody ever knew that it was me; the girl standing there with an empty cup in her hand, and a smirk on her face. Nobody even looked my way!

The guy ended up being so angry that he left the party. I remember him storming out of there mumbling something about expensive shirt, lame friends, outta here.....

As the door shut behind him I heard a bunch of people say,"Good, he deserved it."

And that was a time where it really paid to be impulsive.

Rock Girl

2011-08-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is being outside with my children. We go on a lot of walks, and discover fun things to do in nature. We love the beaches. I could spend all day at the beach. Even the black, lava rock beaches on our side of the island are starting to grow on me. They seemed harsh at first, and so uninviting. It was funny to me when we first got here to see families sprawled out on the rocks for a day at the "beach". Towels, umbrellas, sunscreen, lunch boxes, and.....rocks.

One day when we first got here we were visiting a popular beach to swim, one that is surrounded by lava rocks, when one of my boys stubbed their toes again, on the rocks. I got so angry! "Get me off this stupid lava rock island!!," was all I could think. I wanted to yell and cry at someone! I felt homesick for the miles and miles of soft, white sand beaches I grew up with on Oahu.
But, we are learning to enjoy them. Our desire to be at the ocean is still strong, and our feet are toughening up nicely.
My Dad cheered me up on the phone when he reminded me,"There will be white, sandy beaches in Hilo, someday. All you have to do is wait 5 million years for the ocean to wear away at the rocks." Thanks eh, Dad.

This is the beach closest to our house. You can't actually swim here but we have fun exploring the rocks and tide pools.
Jonah fits right in amongst the black rocks, like a little Opihi shell. He sticks to the rocks naturally. In fact, one of our friends said to me, "Eh, he looks like one Rock boy!" I like that name. Just call him Rock Boy.

This was Kalapana beach, which used to be one of the most friendly and swimmable beaches on the island. It was home to a bustling, little fishing village, until it was covered by Kilauea lava flow in 1990. Now it is a lava field, with barely a beach to walk on.

It's a 2 hour drive to the other side of the island if you want to take refuge at sandy beaches. This past weekend we camped a night at Ho'okena, where we basked in the sand and sun all day long.

We are learning the names of the reef fish and ocean creatures. Odin snorkeled for his first time and was quite thrilled to spot a Yellow Tang! He talked about it all the way home. Zadok met some bigger boys on the beach who taught him the art of boogie-board body-sliding. He can't wait for us to go back 'to the other side' so he can do it some more.

I am really starting to feel at home here on this rock. Even though my welcoming, comfortable, and sandy beaches are far away, I am learning to love this land for what it is.
Hawaii has a rich and beautiful cultural heritage, one of which I am excited to learn more about.
Long before us hauoles came to live here, the Hawaiians built Kingdoms and societies amongst these rocks. Their whole livelihoods were based upon the natural developments around them, even the harsh rocky landscape had meaning and use to them. I am determined to appreciate it, too.

Just call me Rock Girl!

Birthday Treasure Box

2011-08-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

For my Mother's 60th birthday I wanted to do something special, because after all, she is a very special mother! I had entertained myself with thoughts of flying to Seattle to surprise her, along with my 4 siblings, spouses, and 8 grandkids, but that would've been impossible! With my eldest brother in Tahiti, my big sister in Oregon, my little brother in Washington, and now my family in Hawaii, a birthday treasure box was the best I could do. Hopefully someday we'll all get to be in one place again!

To make a Birthday Treasure box, I took a regular wooden treasure box from a craft store ($3.99), and covered it in pieces cut out from scrapbook paper. I then gathered messages from my Mom's most treasured friend's and family, and pasted them onto paper scrolls, also cut out from scrapbook paper.

I tied each scroll with a little ribbon to keep them in place, and to make them look even prettier, too.
When my mom's 60th birthday arrived, she got to open her present! She absolutely loved it! (I know because I got one of those long, teary messages of happiness on my cell phone that only a mother can send.:)

The messages inside were so very thoughtful and heartwarming, full of many happy memories and treasured friendships my mother has made over the years. Some people wrote poems, some people wrote stories, and some people sent tiny messages of love. I am so glad I got to do this for my Mom! Thank you again to all those who contributed to this project, and for making her 60th birthday wonderful!

Happy Birthday Mom! You are a treasure to me!

**My sister-n-law Genevieve took these pictures. Thank you Gen, they turned out beautiful.

Magic potion

2011-08-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Saturday and we are heading to the ocean. It's been a busy week at our house! We started our first week of home"school", Micah is officially working at his new job and away everyday, I am getting used to the bustling routine of keeping up with this house, and on top of that I got a nasty head cold! I am ready to plunge into the ocean and let it engulf me! This is one thing I love about being here in Hawaii! The ocean has a way of restoring and healing me, like a magic potion, renewing my life-force!
It's really exciting to me how drastically our lives have changed since we got here!
There is a lot to do, and more opportunities for us to work harder than ever before.
We have an acre with fruit trees, and a large garden. This involves a lot of harvesting of fruits and veggies, prepping them and preparing them to eat. I have a large kitchen now, which has made a huge difference in my attitude towards preparing food. ( I love it!) Yesterday I steamed a large pumpkin from the garden, made coconut Popsicles from the inside of the coconut juice, made a huge batch of fresh guacamole, and ate papayas from our tree. Everything was harvested, prepared, and eaten from our land. It felt so good, and I enjoyed all the time I spent in the kitchen! The boys helped a lot, too! It was fun to see them get excited about making yummy, nutritious food!

Each day we go outside to check the trees to see what's ripe. This is Odin's favorite thing to do. This past week the avocados and bananas all started at once, so we've had our (mouths) full of guacamole and delicious bananas!

Laundry is a subject of it's own! I can't let the laundry sit in the hampers for more than 2 days or they'll mildew. If I hang the laundry on Monday, it will be fully dry by Wednesday, ready for the next load to wash an be hung. But sometimes it takes 4days to dry because it's been so wet out. It's a very delicate balance of timing the washing, sunny days, and fighting mildew.

And then there's the chickens. Oh the chickens! Micah has become an expert at catching wild jungle fowls from our area. We now have 3 hens and once cockerel, who are getting fat and happy in their new domesticated life. There are wild chickens everywhere here, so we decided to reap them from the land, as well. So far we are getting 6 eggs a week, and hoping to add more.
Here they are: Zadok named one Fraid-ster. Odin named one Rocks. I named the Rooster, Rainbow, and the last one (not pictured), Micah named Mango.
Micah is loving growing a large, year-round garden. He's planting all sorts of veggies, and tending to it like a young baby. He's definitely got a green thumb for this kind of thing. The boys have their own plots and have planted their favorite: green peas to eat right out of the pod.

The boys are so happy and alive each day! I can tell that being outside this much is so good for their little souls. They get super enthusiastic about simple things like the camouflage lizards, or how many eggs we got today, or what kind of seeds should they plant in their gardens.

There's something about living here that has re-ignited that spark within me to live a more conscious and healthier lifestyle than ever before. I want to take better care of myself and my families well-being, and be more fully aware of my impact on the land around me. Weather I am spending my energy sorting recyclables, or helping Zadok and Odin find ripe guavas to eat, I feel very fulfilled here. I feel complete. And when those days are upon me that get overly busy and exhausting-there's always the ocean to renew me. My magic potion!

I spend a lot of time chasing this baby, too, I might ad! It's exhausting work, but watching him learn how to walk this past month has been so exciting! He comes waddling up to me with his little arms raised high, and I am in love. Here he is climbing out to his favorite cement stone.

I decided I will start selling my magic potion. All it costs is a plane ticket and it's yours! :)

First day of school

2011-08-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

Public school started here, this past week in Hawaii.
We were driving past the elementary school on the first day of school. The streets were backed-up with cars of parents, anxiously picking up their kids from their first day away. Backpacks, school uniforms, and bicycles everywhere, jamming the streets with first-school-day mayhem.
I turned to Zadok, our 5 year old, and said, "Well, there's the school where all the 5 year olds go now."
He responded eagerly, saying, "Oh, but not me!! I'm homeschooling!"

I looked over at his happy, innocent, little face and felt so much love for him.
He really has no idea what this all means.
I mean, we've explained to him about schools, and teachers, and being away from parents, and different ways to gain and education, but the magnitude of it all won't effect him at this point in time. He'll never know what it's like to have a first day of school, or what it's like to be in a classroom all day, or what it's like to be away from Mom.

I wasn't home-schooled myself so I this is a whole new adventure for me, too. I don't know what it's like to not send my kid to Kindergarten. It's kind of weird, and sometimes scary, but I know it's going to be awesome. I know our path will be right, mostly because we want it to be, but certainly because I know it's God's plan for our family.

So here's to a happy year of homeschooling, and no first day of school!

I love these kids! I promise they won't turn out to be beach bums....funny they are wearing these shirts in this post. ha ha....

Odin is so excited that the bananas are ripening.

Why the matching outfits? Because our awesome Trike Fairy sent cute clothes for the boys! And the boys thought it was hilarious that they could all match.

Rainforest living

2011-08-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

It rains everyday here.
When we go to the beach, it rains.
When we go to the zoo, it rains.
When we go outside to have lunch on the grass, it rains.
But it's not a cold, harsh and threatening rain, like other rains I've known.
Which is why I don't really mind it too much. The first week or so we were here I really felt wet all the time and was worried I would start to mildew! Even our clothes take days to dry on the covered line, but they do dry....eventually. And the sun always stays close by, ready to burst through the clouds at any moment to redeem itself.

So I guess this makes us water people, since we live in the rainiest city in the U.S.

Well, I welcome thee, water! I love water!
Afterall, we drink mostly water!
When you come to our house we will most likely offer you a glass of cold water, because that's all we have. We carry our metal water bottles with us everywhere, one for each family member. Can you guess which one is mine? he he
I love the refreshing qualities of pure, clean, rain water! Which is why I am so fascinated by water catchment systems out here.
The rain falls down, it gets 'caught' in this container, it runs through pipes into our house, and we use it for everything, well, except for drinking. I really wanted to drink it, but they say you don't want to catch whatever bacterias might be living in the pipes. So it's clean, just not clean enough for my gut. But, we wash dishes with it, shower with it, bathe with it, cook with it, clean with it, etc. I am fascinated with this rainwater harvesting stuff.

I like knowing exactly where our water comes from! It seems so simple to me, and I like simple. I like looking out the window at dark thunder clouds and falling rain, and knowing that's what I am washing my hair with later on, and knowing that all this water will nourish our garden and help it grow food for us, too.
Here are the guys' working in the garden area.

Thanks for your abundance, water, in providing us all we need.

Going strong!

2011-08-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

Our baby turned one this past week!
It crept up on me, it really did! It seems that this past year I have been seeing him continually as the wee, little infant I just gave birth to, now all of sudden he's having a birthday! What? My how fast a year can go!
Jonah at one hour old:
Jonah at one year old:

I've truly loved having this baby, my number 3! I love everything about him, and his gentle, baby ways. He has been our most calm, most mellow, most super low-key baby of them all. I can't think of one thing he has done to intentionally drive me nuts. Okay, maybe one...like every morning now he tries to escape out the door and throw shoes down the stairs! After all, he is one of our kids, so that means he keeps busy, busy, busy! I am constantly chasing this baby!

And, he is a blessing to our whole family. The boys love and adore him. They stop in- between their big-brother brawls, and big-kid games, to dote on him and smother him with little kisses. He follows them around, but he can't keep up...yet.
Here's a few things about Jonah at one year:
He is starting to walk! He has taken six whole steps on his own!
He says "Mama" for me, and "nana" for food.
He gives hugs, and snuggles, and rolls around on your face in the morning.
He points at everything, especially birds.
He just got his two, top teeth this past month, and has the sweetest smile.
He loves to eat papaya and avocados, and these sour, seedy guavas off the tree.
He crawls lightening fast on just his hands and feet, no knees!
He lets Zadok carry him around. (I have yet to get a picture of that)
He waves hello to everyone he sees.
He has the goofiest laugh, that I love.

Baby Jonah had a really yucky viral rash on his birth-day, and felt pretty miserable throughout the day and at his birthday party in the evening.

But, in sweet Jonah fashion, he managed to still find moments to smile and be content. Especially when being held by one of his favorite friends, Papa.
The most memorable moment of his birthday party, for me, was this sweet snuggle, and nursing on the couch, with my big one year old boy! He had been feeling yucky, and fussy, but the minute we sat down to nurse, he was happy. And I got to relax for a moment, too!I love how he sticks his leg up in my face when he eats.
Turning one in this family doesn't mean the end of our nursing relationship. It simply means that we totally know what we're doing now, and can keep going strong for another year!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Jonah baby. I get to wake up to your smiling face every morning, and feel so lucky each day that I get to be your Mom. You are my heart and my joy, my little Pootie, baby boy.

Of Pirates and Puppets

2011-07-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

When we found my Dad at his hotel he was dressed like a pirate.
He had been waiting there for us to pick him up, fully unashamed that no one else around him was dressed like pirates. And that's what I love about my Dad.
He then gave the boys a homemade pirate treasure map, where they had to search for the hidden booty in front of his tiny, hotel lobby.
Booty was found.

And more pirates were made.
Aaaargh.

We made a puppet theatre out of a large cardboard box. It was so simple, and so fun! We just a cut a square hole in the front, and a door in the back. The boys painted it with some old, house paints we found around here.
They named it "The Spots and Stripes Puppet Theatre."
It really warms my heart to see these kids use their imaginations to create works of art for themselves. There is never a dull moment when you have a box, some paints, and a few awesome puppets! Thanks again Dad for providing the puppets, and for being a pirate that gives treasures instead of stealing them.

Testing the waters

2011-07-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

From the moment we got here I was thrilled to be back, back to "da kine" as we say here in the islands. Hawaii is the place where I truly feel like myself. In Hawaii I can roll out of bed, throw on a beach wrap and t-shirt, toss my hair into a bun, and I'm dressed for the day. If I need to head to the grocery store, all I need is my rubber slippahs and I'm all touched up.
Most people here just don't focus on mass consumerism, or fuss with the material things that can crowd and delusion us from enjoying the simple things of life. One of the first things I heard from the pulpit at church was,"Life ain't about looking good to your friends, it's about serving them." And that's what I feel is the essence of (my)Hawaii, where the Aloha spirit means smiling and serving others, and not worrying about the excess things.

Of course, I am speaking from the down-to-Earth "country" places that I have grown up in. There are eight islands in the Hawaiian island chain, and each island is slightly different from the others, culturally, socially, and economically. Having grown up on Oahu, where life on the city side is more fast-paced, and more materially focused, I have seen the good and bad of both worlds there.
But I was fortunate to grow up on the country side, where we learned from a young age to slow down and enjoy the falling coconuts and the changing tides. We found happiness in chasing frogs and crabs! And when we were older, surfing, snorkeling, and other ocean sports became my passion. I fell in love with this lifestyle, and now I feel like I can embrace it once again.
In a (coco)nutshell, I just want to live my slow-paced-ocean-loving-Hawaiian-lifestyle, always having the goal in mind of serving my family, my community, my church, and spreading the "Aloha." This is my happy, and I'm loving it.

When Micah and I were going through the many decision stages of where? and why? to move over here, we looked into the Big Island as an affordable option. The Big Island is the largest island of the eight main ones, yet slower and less inhabited. That means less busy, less commercial, and more open to the possibility of us living out our dream of buying an acre of land, and building a simple, homestead life on it. (You know, the one where we build a house, grow a huge garden, plant fruit trees, raise goats and chickens, spend our leisure time at the beach, and home-school our children. Yah, that dream.)
So here we are on the Big Island! I spent some time here as a little kid, but moving here as an adult, this is brand new territory for me. When Micah and I decided to move over here we didn't really know how it would all play out. However, we did know two things:
1. We were up for the adventure. 2. We needed to find out our dream.

For the first 3 weeks we were so very blessed to house-sit for some friends that were out of town. We woke up the morning after our flight to a lovely house surrounded by the most beautiful, tropical flowers, and classical Hawaiian rain forest!
We spent that first 3 weeks in somewhat of a culture shock as we drove around Hilo and roundabouts. We explored the exotic fruits and veggies at the farmer's markets, welcomed the humidity and rain that moistened up our desert skin, re-learned how to pronounce words like Kalanianaole and maku'upaniapa, and of course, swam our little hearts out at the local beaches.

Micah browsing the local farmer's market for goods:

Beach days on the big island means lots of black sand, lava, and sea-turtles galore:

However, (as crazy adventures tend to go,) our easy, house-sitting time began to come to a close, and we didn't really know where to go next! We felt so blessed that the Seivert family let us stay at their house, but with 3 small children, we needed to come up with a next plan, quick! (Gone are the single days of camping anywhere, anytime, and eating whatever!) So, we were starting to get a little worried. Since Micah still wasn't employed, what we needed was a temporary place to live until we found a permanent home.

Enter the Hanza family.

We met the Hanza couple at church on Sunday. Ivo and Heidi Hanza were friends with our house-sitting friends and welcomed us to the ward. After several minutes of talking with Heidi (the Mama), we both knew what was going to happen next: We were going to move into their family home, as they were getting ready to move out. This couple had been preparing to leave their house for the mainland and were quietly searching for the perfect family to rent their home. They told us we could even live there temporarily until we figured things out. They didn't mind a bit.
Turns out God made it possible for us to meet at that exact moment, so we could move into their house. Now they could rest from their search, and we could rest from our worries. God is so timely!

It's a family home, built 25 years ago, on one acre surrounded by trees.
They raised 6 kids here, and homeschooled them. They planted fruit trees, and gardens, had their share of chickens and goats, and spent much of their leisure time at the beach.

Does this sounds familiar?

We felt right at home the minute we stepped into this house! The Mama left us all the furniture, beds, linens, bath towels, kitchen pans, utensils,trash cans, book shelves...well, pretty much everything we didn't have, that we had to get rid of when we moved here!(and much, much more than I've ever had)

I feel blessed beyond what I ever imagined! I feel like the Lord is certainly showing me his love through these simple things. I was able to walk right into a house that already felt like mine, and feel so secure and loved that we are meant to be here.

I honestly feel like the Lord is handing us our dream, and lovingly helping us find out what we are looking for, for our little family.

One of our favorite things to do is peruse the yard for ripened fruit each day.

We have our choice of coconuts, tangerines, papayas, bananas, strawberry guavas, grapefruits, lemons, Ulu (bread-fruit), avocado, mountain apple, Hawaiian plum, and yellow Vivey. We come in and spread everything out and feast on fresh fruit.

The boys have all the running room they need on this land! Finding lizards and frogs is their specialty. Here they are running past the wild pig trap. If wild pigs come around to eat the garden, then the pigs get eaten for dinner.

The chicken coop will provide yummy, nutritious eggs for us! We just need some chickens. Micah is in the process of trying to set up a trap to catch the wild ones that loiter around here.
Like I said, I feel like we have been handed an opportunity to live the life we've been dreaming of, and have been given a chance to test the waters of our ocean dream.

Life's an adventure, and it's always possible we could change our minds several times before we find our niche. For now, I am enjoying my Hawaiian life-style, enjoying this wonderful family that I love, and thanking God for providing all we need.

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you."
D &C 68:6

Getting to paradise

2011-07-11T18:46:00.001-07:00

It might have been ten times easier if we had just jumped on an airplane in Salt Lake City and ended up in Hilo, Hawaii on the same day, but that wasn't an option.
Nope, our travelling journey to get to Hawaii started June 10th, and ended June 21st, when we finally landed our relocating feet on Hawaiian soil! I thought for sure I would dance off the airplane, embrace the nearest coconut tree, and cry my little eyes out in happiness at being here, but I was way too tired! We had woken up at 5am that day, returning 1 rental car to the airport, carrying 4 boxes, 6 bags, 1 surfboard, in 2 airports, on 2 airplanes, eating 4 airplane meals, for 10 hours, with 3 anxious, and overly hyper little boys and 2 overwhelmed parents.
I didn't care where I was when we arrived, all I wanted was a soft bed to curl up in!
So, for those who are curious how a family of five Utahns actually moves to Hawaii, here's one way to do it--the exhausting/fun way!:

We did the final clean-out of our Midvale, UT apartment on June 10th, and loaded up our trailer and car and headed towards California. Here we are about to get in the car after an exhausting morning of cleaning: Our goal was to get to the seaport in Long Beach by June 14th to ship our car. If you want to bring your car to Hawaii, you have to send it on a big boat, which departs from the seaport every other Tuesday. You can also ship your belongings on that same boat, but that costs big bucks. (Even bigger bucks than sending your car!) So, we opted instead to get rid of most of our stuff. Then, whatever was remaining got packed into boxes, loaded onto our trailer, and is now sitting at Micah's parent's house in CA, waiting to be mailed to our new Hawaii address. (Thanks so very, very much Jacksons!!)

So, with it being June 10th, and our car not due til June 14th, we decided to make a few stops along the way.
First stop was Cedar City to say goodbye to our land!

We got there about 7pm and put up a tent. We roasted hot-dogs, made some s'mores, and reminisced about the dreams we'd had of building a house here someday. I looked out over the scraggly sagebrush, and spiney cactus, and breathed in the rustic smell of desert landscape! It's a smell I have grown to love over the years. I will truly miss it here, and have included in my dreams a hope to build a small vacation home here someday. Perhaps a summer getaway where we can always come back to play.

We aren't going to sell our land. I like knowing that we still have a piece of ourselves here. Here's a picture of Jonah siting under the tree where we planted his placenta last year.

On our way out of town we had to fix a leaky tire. We didn't have a lot of time left to spend in Cedar City, but while our tire got fixed we managed to squeeze in a visit with one of my favorite families on the planet. Isn't their baby the cutest? He's the same age, but bigger than my baby, if you can imagine that! We will miss them terribly, but happy to keep following their story on Arianne's blog., as they head to Samoa on a 4 month work-travel-adventure!

Next we stopped at a nearby canyon to release our pet snake back into the wild. We actually let him go at the exact spot we'd found him. The boys have loved little
Pee-wee, but taking a non-native, invasive species to Hawaii was not an option......so goodbye snakey.
watching as he slithers away for the last time.
Next we started the longest leg of our road trip, to California to crash at Micah's parent's house! My primary job: keep baby happy in the car for 6 hours. Ha!
Yes, baby you can have my phone.

Here's some silly glasses to keep you smiling, baby.
And here's the phone again, baby.

We ended up unexpectedly stopping in Las Vegas to get our front windshield sealed up around the sides. It was making this awful buzzing noise that was driving us all insane. And of course, we needed donuts. Real donuts, to be exact.Micah discovered this place years ago and claims they have the best donuts, but also thinks it's a drug-cover up store. You know the kind that sells donuts and crack. We just got the donuts.

And you know how road-trips are with young children, right? They take forever, require lots of snack food, cheap toys, patience, and then you seem to always end up at your destination in the middle of the night.
With that said, there's nowhere I'd rather end up in the middle of the night than a warm house, with good food, and people who want to play with your kids the next day. Here we are at the Jackson house! (I will shoot myself now for not taking more pictures of Micah's family)
Here's Grandma reading books to the kids:

And here's our boys having fun in the dirt outside!Zadok was probably in the house playing video games with Uncle Aaron.

We ended up staying here for the next 10 days until our flight left out of LAX.The boys had so much fun, and Micah and I got a lot of packing accomplished!

Well, we finally got on our airplane at 10:30am the morning of June 21st. It was a 6 hour flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, then another 30 minute flight on a smaller airplane from Honolulu to Hilo. We brought bags packed with new toys, crayons, and notepads to keep the kids happily busy. Those lasted about 15 minutes.
But did you know that each seat on Hawaiian airlines has it's own, individual TV screen for watching movies and playing video games? Seriously! At first we were so reluctant to purchase the $5.99 all-you-can-watch-movie packages. I kept arguing, "My kids don't need to watch movies and play computer games on the plane! They can have fun...doodling." But after about 30 minutes we gave in and it was the best thing in the world. Thank you technology, for keeping our kids busy on the airplane, so I could take care of the baby and Micah could help in all other areas, like take Odin to the bathroom 50 times.
Here we are on the plane:
Zadok was very serious about reviewing the safety pamphlets and had us go over them several times.
Jonah did awesome on both flights. He slept, nursed, and waved hello to everyone he saw.
And now we live in Hawaii, where I did indeed get to curl up in a soft bed and sleep, and where I got to wake up to...... my paradise.

We are here!

2011-07-07T00:35:00.001-07:00

We are here now living in Hawaii! I keep not writing on my blog because I wanted to add pictures to enhance your blog-viewing pleasure, but that doesn't seem to be happening. As soon as I figure out how to upload pictures onto my husband's laptop,and then transfer them over to blogger, I will be posting some Hawaii family pix...doi!

We are so happy to be here. Sounds predictable, right? Well, I am so lying because I am BEYOND happy to be here!

Here's some of my favorite things about being back in the islands:
-It feels like home.
-I know I don't ever have to move again.
-Everything is green and jungly, and smells like paradise.
--I like the humidity.
--My hair is soft and fluffy from washing with rain water every day.
-There's so much cultural diversity and people from all walks of life!
--We swim in the ocean almost daily.
--I went snorkeling with my 5 yr old and almost cried under water because it was so fun watching him snorkel.
--we see sea-turtles daily, at the beach.
--Manapua, musubi, and papayas!
--Papayas are 6 for a dollar at the farmers market and I've eaten one every day since we arrived.
-Micah looks sexy in board shorts.
-I get to surf again.
--baby Jonah spends hours digging in the sand while the kids catch crabs and fish in their nets, and everyone is happy.
-I get to swim.....every day.
-The people at church smile and give you big hugs and kisses.
--And yell "ALOHA" to the congregation before they speak.
-the rain is warm.
-The farmers market is really fun to shop at, with all it's unique vegetables.
-The boys are learning about Volcanoes, and Hawaii's geology, and earned their "Junior Ranger" titles at the Volcano national Park.
-My Dad flies over from Oahu every couple months so we get to hang out with him!
--I've said hi to all my old 'fish friends' as we've reunited under the sea.
-It's breathtakingly beautiful here.
--God loves me and has given me a chance to live in my Hawaii again.

Check back later for some pix! Like, later later.

Balloons and boys, and other B-words

2011-06-08T21:11:00.001-07:00

An empty apartment full of balloons and little boys!

A babywearing Mama, exhausted from a day of cleaning.

A little baby who likes to sit on a box.
A trip to Oregon to see this bunch of family that I love: My mother, brother, his wife, and their baby.
My big sister hiding in a barbie tent, on the day before her birthday:

My bright and bouncy, busy and boisterous, niece Waimea!

Barbara-the blessed Grammmie of 8 grandbabies!Here she is with baby Jonah:

A beautiful, babywearing sister-in-law wearing her baby in a mei-tai I brought.(one of the best ones I ever made, in my opinion!)

Breastfeeding is the bomb!

A big, baby getting his first haircut, buzzed.
Before:
Bald:
And his two big, bald, buzzed, brothers:

Saying bye-bye to places we love:
Bye bye Liberty park:

Bye-bye Salt Lake Temple:

Bye-bye Zoo:

Bye-bye to friends we adore!
Bye-bye for now! My blogging has come to a small block in the road. Our house is all boxed up and we are bolting for the Big Island.

Baloha! Til we meet again.

some dishwasher fun

2011-06-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

No one ever told me you can't put liquid soap in a dishwasher!
Well, at least the kids had fun!
"Mom, You made bubbles!"

They just kept spewing and spewing and spewing...forever!

This apartment has given me my FIRST dishwasher experience. Yes, my very first ever in my life because people just didn't have fancy appliances where I grew up, nor did all the crummy apartments I lived in in college, nor did Micah and I have one after all these years of marriage.
And you know what? Old habits live on, because we barely use it! This is probably the fifth time we've tried it, although this is the first time using liquid soap, after running out of powder.
I've always wanted a dishwasher because I thought it would make my life easier,
but nope, it just makes life more bubblier!

(You, too, can make dishwasher bubbles spew out onto your floor. Just fill your entire soap loader with liquid soap, such as Dawn, start your washer, and wait. It takes about 5 minutes for the bubbles to start, and about 3 large towels to sop them all up.)

Goodbye, Pinky

2011-06-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

We bought "the Pink Panther" 5 years ago, when our first baby was 5 months old. We were visiting Portland, Oregon for a wedding, when we found her on craigslist!
We knew we would need a bigger vehicle someday for our growing family, and had thought about buying a VW bus in the future. However, when we laid eyes on this beautiful pink machine, we had to buy it, now!
We gave away the Nissan maxima we drove to OR (it wasn't worth selling), and cruised all the way back to Idaho in our brand, new, Pink Panther bus!

It was perfect! It was in excellent working condition, a 1974, with cow seat covers, a roof rack, seven seat belts, and very fun to drive, I might add. If you've never driven an old VW, you're in for a treat when you do! I imagined us keeping this car forever; parading the kids around to and from soccer games, driving our family to all our activities, teaching the boys their first driving lessons, all from the cow-seats of pinky the bus!

So, it was with great sadness that we had to sell her. We had to! We just couldn't afford to ship her to Hawaii, or maintain her when we got there. Goodbye Pinky! We will miss you! Maybe we will find another VW bus to own one day, and we will paint it pink, in your honor.

our little world

2011-06-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

I'm finding as my kids get older, that I don't feel a need to make as many play-dates with friends, as when they were toddlers. We love hanging out with friends, and I'm a very social person, but what I've found is that I really enjoy talking with these little people, alone! We have all these fun places we like to go, and little traditions we've started, and games that only we like to play. We often build up a little world around ourselves, that others just wouldn't appreciate as much, or go along with!

Today was a beautiful day at the farm! I eagerly listened to the boys, as they told me all about the wonderful things they were seeing and hearing. Both Odin and Zadok are so detailed and descriptive about the observations they make! And so excited, too!

"Look, that box-elder beetle is making his home in a groove in that tree!"
"Look, Mom, the bees are pollinating that pansy!"
"And look! Those ducks are being territorial and chasing the geese away!"
"I can hear a pidgeon calling. Maybe it's a mating call!"

We walked as slow as we wanted, waited for each other while someone saw something they liked, and listened to each others' stories. We stopped to see some ants carrying twigs, then we observed a mama goose sitting on her nest, then we wandered over to the big tree to climb and relax.
It's nice to have a little family. It's nice to leave all the distractions behind and enjoy them, even if that means friends. I think each family has a little world of their own, with special things they love to do, at a pace they like to do it.

I love spending time with these boys, and I really like our little world.

I took these pictures back in March, hence the snowcoats. I can't remember if I've shared them. Sorry if these are repeats=mama brain.
And here's a little disclaimer about my post, which I thought of afterward-- some may be thinking, "oh great, this is just the beginning of un-socialized homeschooling!" Ha ha! But really, we are a very social family; with friends, and our church, and our neighbors. All I mean by this post is that it's nice to step away from all that and enjoy just us.

busy

2011-05-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

If you're ever wondering what I'm doing that keeps me so busy from updating my blog, the answer is simple: BABY JONAH. He fills our lives...completely! Love this boy, and all his busy-baby-ness!

The lately's and other happenings

2011-05-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well, our entire apartment is in boxes. Sometimes this project of moving 3000 miles away overseas, feels like something I am not equipped to do! There's days I feel like I really lack the patience and skills to manage my own home, amidst the chaos of packing and keeping kids happy!! It's been tough for me to organize and prioritize my belongings, stay patient with my children, and then on top of that, take care of my needs. Moving to Hawaii is not an easy task, and sometimes I find myself asking, "Am I sure I am grown up enough for this job? This seems like something that someone else should be doing; someone more mature, more capable, and more organized." But alas, it is me. And Micah, of course. He's been taking care of so many little details, too!
I will be so relieved when we get off that airplane onto Hawaiian soil!

And my needs do get taken care of, in so many little ways. I've been having intense headaches and back pain every evening, on and off for several weeks, and had to stop jogging because my left hip was out of place. When I took baby Jonah into the chiropractor about his ears, the thought occurred to me, as we were leaving, that I should have an adjustment. It was the last thing on my busy mind, but the thought prevailed. I quickly asked the chiropractor if he wouldn't mind adjusting me while my kids wreaked havoc on his office. He obliged and cracked me and put my bones back together, in places I didn't know possible. I left his office walking on clouds, and have been feeling amazing ever since. No more headaches, and I can run again. Thank you, skeleton doctor. Why is it that we Moms, sometimes take care of ourselves, last?
And I can wear my baby comfortably again, too.

I organized a reunion with some great friends from the Anasazi Foundation days. These are some of my favorite people on earth. I could've sat there all day laughing about all our old trail stories. Working at Anasazi was one of the greatest experiences of my whole life.
Trailwalkers unite:

Zadok and Odin are still so excited all the time to learn about animals. We go to the library and check out books every week about their favorites. One day a few weeks ago Zadok got really excited about bats, and wanted to BE one. He begged me to make him bat wings, so this is what I came up with: a tarp, with elastic sewn onto it.
They were the two, cutest bats I've ever seen!

We said goodbye to Pinky the bus. I was very reluctant to sell it, as we've had some fun family memories driving it around the past 5 years. But, once it was sold, I was totally fine. Moving on from material things is part of the moving process, I think.

Lastly (for now), I love this man with all my heart. He does amazing things, as a father, husband, and provider for this family. He has many doubts about his abilities, as well, but somehow is able to provide strength to all of us because of who he is. As I was reading the "Family, a Proclamation to the World," again, I realized how really, really grateful I am for a man that lives his life to serve his family.

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families."

morning routine

2011-05-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

We needed some structure to our morning really badly, so I've come up with a plan that seems to be working!

You think kids have short attention spans? I used to be the worst one! I have huge tendencies to wake up in the morning and try to do fifty different things at once! Then I get distracted, go back, get distracted again, lose something, start a new project, walk back and forth, find what I was looking for, answer 100 questions from the kids, start breakfast, get distracted, start a cartoon,look for something else, go back, burn the pancakes, start a new project....get the idea? It can be so EXASPERATING to be me.
But, I am so, so much better than I ever was, and I attribute my organizational skills to having 3 children and a husband who demand and need structure from me. When we feel better organized, we all feel happier.

So, look at me now:

I have a special place to keep my cell phone at all times.
I don't start any new projects if I can't foresee them getting finished.
I force myself to follow a morning routine of order, before I allow any other distractions in my life like the Internet, or making phone calls, or new projects.
I don't answer the phone unless I know who's calling and why.
I force myself to let go of things I just can't do or get done.
I force myself to stay focused on the moment instead of getting carried away.
I carefully lead my children through a morning routine, that helps us all stay focused, stay organized, and start the day feeling awesome!

Sometimes it is REALLY hard to stay focused. Structure and organization doesn't come naturally to me. It is one of those skills that I've had to develop out of pure necessity. Everyday is not perfect, but I've seen the wonderful difference it makes in my family when I do.

So, we start by getting all our "important things" done first!

First we eat breakfast. I love sitting at the table with the kids in the morning. I leave the computer and TV off. I focus on them. We pray together. They ask me questions. We talk about our dreams from last night. They tell me jokes that don't make any sense. It's awesome.

Then we do the following things, in whatever order we choose:
brush teeth
brush hair
do our chores
get dressed for the day
Morning hugs and kisses for Mama (that's me!)
morning prayers

After we finish everything we meet on the living room rug to review. I get out my playful, authoritative Mama voice and shout out, "Raise your hand if you brushed your teeth!"
The boys giggle and fall to the floor, hands raised high in the air.
Then,"Raise your hand if you said your morning prayers!"
And again, they giggle and roll all over, hands raised high.
I do this for all of our important things, until all hands are raised. If a hand isn't raised, the boys hurry and go get it done. It is a fun game for them, I think.

I debated for a long time on how to approach chores in our home. I think it is important for children to learn how to do work around the family house and take personal responsibility for themselves, but I didn't want it to be something they resented or hated.
So, I made these simple, nothing-fancy-charts, that I nonchalantly hung on the wall for them.
Micah and I chose 6 things that they could do easily around the house, like spray the windows, fold laundry, vacuum with the hose, wipe a dirty wall, pick up toys, and take out trash. I drew some little pictures on construction paper, and I give them a sticker when they complete it, just to mark it off.
There is no offer of rewards, and no punishment for not doing it. It has just become part of our morning routine. They are both really proud of their chore charts and look at them often!
So this has been our morning routine, for the past while.
It works for us and we are happy this way! Most importnatly for me, I start my day off feeling like we already accomplished something good, and it's only 8 o'clock.

Mango (baby-food) smoothies

2011-05-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

I got a bunch of free vouchers for baby food, none of which Jonah will eat. He tried the applesauce, green beans, and carrots, but he doesn't really like the pureed texture, and now spits it out. What can I say, he's a scraps n' table-food junkie.

So, what brilliant thing did I do? I cashed them all in for Mango baby food, and am now having a field day making mango smoothies!!
They are so delicious, and I am addicted. (don't tell my older kids it's baby food, they won't eat it)

3 Jars Mango baby food
1 frozen banana
2 cups Vanilla yogurt
1 cup milk

Blend it all together= heavenly mango wonderfulness!

I've been taking all the other baby foods and sneaking them into my cooking. A little green bean puree in the spaghetti sauce, a little sweet potato puree in the muffins, a little carrot puree in the pancakes.....Yum!

Snowflakes, back to Seashells

2011-05-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

We were sitting on the couch together when we finally clicked the "buy tickets" button on Micah's laptop. We said one more prayer together, one last time, to make sure that if either of us had any last doubts, they would surface at that time. But neither of us felt any last-minute doubts, instead we both felt absolutely certain that this was the right move;the right thing to do.
It's been one week since we purchased our families one-way to tickets to Hawaii, and I have to admit, I am beyond happy!

Yes, we are moving to the lovely Polynesian islands!
It's so surreal to me still.
I am elated, and nervous, and excited, and overwhelmed, all at once!

I am selling things, getting rid of things, packing things, and all the while, mentally preparing myself for our whole world to change.

One night this week I had a dream that I was walking down the beach with the kids, catching sand crabs and collecting sea-shells. Then we all jumped into the warm, clear-blue ocean together. Micah was in the water doing back flips, and the baby was in my arms smiling happily. It was the most joyous dream, the kind that really feels real.

Then I woke up. It took me a moment to readjust my brain and realize where I was.
I quickly looked around to see I was still in our small city apartment, surrounded by traffic, and sidewalks, and neighbors that complain about our noise.

As my dream came back into focus, I got so unbelievably happy knowing that this dream would be our new reality.

Someone said the other day,"Aww, you're so lucky! I wish we knew what the heck we were doing! Maybe if we could figure things out, we could move where we want to, too."

My response,"Well, this decision didn't happen overnight! This is the result of us moving 4 times, working 5 different jobs, 6 years of college, 3 kids being born, 5 apartment rentals, 1 house foreclosure, 7 years of marriage, countless tax returns, 1 building of 1 savings account, and one big move to the big city, which forced us to do something different!"

Looking back on it all, if we had done what we wanted to do all the time, we wouldn't of gotten anything done that we had to do, and therefore we wouldn't have been able to build our family, and build our lives. You have to do the hard stuff first before you can do what you want. And oftentimes you may never live where you think you want, but will be happy where you are anyways. (God has a way of making that work out, too.)
This is a hard reality for a lot of people. Heck, it is hard for me! But, we're finally at a place where we can do some things that we want to do. And not only that, it's what we feel is the best choice.

Thanks to Micah for making my dreams come true.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage, then comes moving back to Hawaii.

Jonah, getting ready to walk on sand:

First REAL animal rescue

2011-05-06T13:59:00.001-07:00

Our five year old has become a very compassionate lover of all things animal.
He's the kid that gets concerned at the playground when other kids are smashing ants, he's the kid that picks up litter at the park so animals won't mistake it for food, he's the kid that wants to limit his meat intake, and now he's the kid that saw 2 sick pigeons at our apartments and was determined to rescue them.

Apparently, every Spring the apartment management here hires a pest control company to take out all the pesky pigeons. As we've been walking around our apartments lately, we've noticed lots of dead pigeons. Some of them were even suffering, taking days to die. It made us feel sad, and angry.
"They are vermin, pests, and a health violation to those that live here!," said the manager, when I called to complain. However, what our son saw were little, helpless creatures that deserved a chance.
Micah and Zadok went and got the two sick pigeons and and put in our laundry room. They were barely moving, looking almost dead. Zadok gave them water, food, and a warm box to live in.He checked on them all day, every day. We changed the newspapers when they got too poopy. We put them out on the balcony for fresh air.

Then suddenly, after several days, we looked into the laundry room to see a flying pigeon! We quickly opened the door and let him fly free. Zadok had the biggest smile on his face to see his animal rescue mission a success!

And then, about a week later, we released the other pigeon at the farm nearby. Although he couldn't fly, his overall health seemed back to normal. We watched him waddle into the bushes, and peck around for food. Zadok sat and watched him for quite some time. He didn't want to leave unless he knew "Pidgy" would be safe.

This past month at our apartments we have witnessed the emergence of baby ducklings, baby goslings, and then the sick and dead pigeons. Everyone here loves the babies because they are so cute, but everyone hates the pigeons.
Zadok sees them all equally, as creatures that God made.
I am so proud of our boy. He has become such a wonderful, loving, and nurturing person.

Camping at Arches, 2011

2011-04-28T14:57:00.001-07:00

I don't think you've really experienced Utah until you've been to her vast and diverse wilderness. I am blown away every time we take a drive out beyond the valleys and cities of which we live in, and reach places that exceed our expectations of what a desert should be like. The Utah desert isn't the harsh image of cactus and sage brush, like it's often portrayed to outsiders; it's a place brimming with wildlife, filled with amazing red rock, and sandstone structures, lush desert greenery, great, big, volcanic mountains, and waterfalls where you'd least expect them. I really love it here, and am so excited for the times we get to travel and explore this amazing state. And that's just the desert! The mountains, lakes, and forests to the North have so much more to offer, as well.

In the past seven years Micah and I have been to Zions National Park, Capitol Reef NP, Goblin Valley, Kodachrome Basin, Canyonlands, Coyote Gulch, Bryce Canyon, countless back-country areas, and now Arches National Park, where our family camped (again) this past Spring break.
To be honest, I didn't want to leave Arches! I think I could live out there amongst the lizards and slick-rock, and be happy as a...clam? Well, maybe a fossilized one.

Here's a little peak into our adventure:

We scored the perfect campsight (#20) at Devil's Garden campgrounds. It was more isolated than the others, and dropped down into a large area with lots of climbing rocks, which the kids loved.

As I was walking back from the bathrooms I spied this sweet, sight of my little family at our campground. It made my heart all melty.

The boys established themselves as resident lizards as soon as we arrived, scrambling over rocks and building nests in the sand. No, seriously, they were real lizards, for reals.

Last time we were here, in 2009, Zadok found these certain rocks to climb on at the Devil's garden picnic area, where he was pretending to be a giant Lizard from Star wars. (episode II, the one where Obi-wan fights General Grievous) We had to come back here and play some more, as Ob-wan's lizards, of course:

Micah and I made a point to do a couple big (3-5 mile) hikes each while out here. We took turns doing mini-hikes with the kids while each of us took off and hiked alone to the destination of our choice. This is one of my favorite things to do because it gives us parents a chance to really exert ourselves, challenge our hiking abilities, refresh our minds, and think freely.

The first day I literally sprinted up to the Delicate Arch. As I was feeling the wind in my hair, and the earth at my feet, I nearly cried. It feels really good to be all alone, hiking with my Mother Earth. (and the lady from S. Dakota who took this picture.)

One of my favorite dinners, which has become tradition for us; the infamous tinfoil dinner. Chopped potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, turkey meat and cream of mushroom soup. Cook it over hot coals for 30 mins and it tastes like heaven. (well, only while camping, for some reason)

And of course after dinner comes everyone's favorite part; CAMPFIRE and S'MORES!!!!

Baby didn't have any s'mores, but he got real used to getting smoke in his eyes.

Another thing I love about camping is sleeping in a tent. The boys wake up so happy and excited to greet the world. Here's some morning giggles in our big, blue tent:

To sum it all up, we just had a really, really cool camping vacation! I kept thinking the whole time we were out there that, families need vacations together! If you can spare even a couple days, getting away from the house and experiencing new climates,environments, and situations, creates lasting memories! Also, we are being offered new challenges that bring us closer together as a family, and building memories that we can look back on and cherish....

Like when little Odin fell into a patch of cactus, and I had to pull barbed spines out of his bum. Or when Zadok was too scared to use the public bathroom, so he held it in for 3 days before he finally went into a hole in the ground. Or when we had an Easter egg hunt at our campsight, and Micah hid eggs in the pokey Yucca.

Or when Jonah found a tool and started digging in the sand for the first time. Or when it rained heavily one morning so we sat in the tent and listened to Micah read us a story. Or when we hiked as a family through the sandy canyons, marveling at how beautiful it all was. Or when Micah and I got to put the kids to sleep early one night, and cuddle in the tent together.

We packed up and left on Easter morning. It was pouring rain by the time we got out of there. I could hear Odin saying as we drove away, "Goodbye balancing rock, I will miss you."

Camping with baby:
Several people have asked me to share tips on camping with an infant.
We've taken all of our babies camping with us, and it's never been as hard as it sounds. I suggest camping in the warmer months, though, because there's nothing worse than having a cold baby! Bbbbbrrrrrrrrrr.
However, even if it's a little chilly out, it's doable. Just bring warm layers of clothing and a heavy jacket to make sure baby is warm at all times.

During the day our baby played on the ground and picked up sticks and rocks. He's at an age (8/9months) where every object he finds goes straight into his mouth, so we had to watch him carefully. If that's something you're worried about, then bring a playpen or chair for him to sit in. I found, though, that after putting rocks in his mouth several times, he finally realized they weren't that tasty and started spitting them out. He mostly hung out on the ground, and really liked digging in the sand with sticks he found.

When we went hiking (or for around camp), I carried him in the mei-tai. I actually prefer the Mei-tai to the hiking backpack because I can nurse and hike at the same time. It's also snugglier, warmer on cold mornings, and really better for smaller babies. I prefer using the hiker for toddler-sized kids, although I used it once this trip to walk to the bathrooms. :)
The Mei-Tai, a more comfortable fit:

At night, when it was time to snuggle up in the tent, I shared a sleeping bag with baby. I zipped the sleeping bag open at the top, so we could both fit, and then covered us up with warm blankets, including my down-comforter. We were toasty warm all night long!
Since I breastfeed, it's just like at home; I hear a little peeping sound coming from next to me, roll over, and feed the open mouth. Easy peasy.
If you bottle-feed, perhaps having a warmed bottle ready next to you would be helpful, so you don't have to get up into the cold.

Lastly, babies take a lot of dedication in general, and demand so much of our loving attention. I found it most helpful that Micah and I have an understanding, in which cooking dinner, washing dishes, making fires, collecting fire-wood, putting up tent, and doing other needed camping chores aren't always expected of me. Taking care of our Jonah baby always came first, and that job was delegated to me this time,(the one with the boobs.)

Last of all, most babies LOVE being outside, so going camping with babies gives us a chance to see a happy, contented baby for several days in a row!

Hawaii and stuff

2011-04-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to have pre-moving jitters and anxiety, about getting on a plane and relocating 3000 miles away! We don't officially have a job offer yet, but Micah and I have decided to make plans to move. Yes, it is an adventure, but yes, I am getting a bit nervous about it.

Believe it or not, it was Micah's idea to finally make the decision to move to Hawaii. Although I'm the one who grew up there, and I'm the one who has dreamed of moving back for so many years, I am also the one who had all these fears and reservations about making the plunge to just do it.
It seems that every time we brought it up these past years, I would get really turned off by the price of realty, or the loss of opportunities over there, or the fact that we'll be so far away from some of our family, and all our friends we've made on the mainland. After being here for 10 years, it was really hard for me to mentally part with it. I feel in so many ways that I have done all my growing up here. It was my move to the mainland that gave me my husband and my family, and my grown up life. I was feeling that, by moving away, I would be leaving myself here! It was a scary feeling, which encouraged all these other fears and reservations about moving over there. (Yes, I am an oddball, as if you didn't know that.)

Then my sweet Micah would hug me, and laugh at me, and do a bunch of research and thinking, and come back to counter my arguments. "We can afford our own land on the Big Island," he'd say. "We will have so much fun stuff to do and so many adventures to go on!," he'd argue. "We can come back every year and visit family, and I'll bet our friends will come to Hawaii to see us," he'd explain, making me realize that we can do it, and that it is what we really want to do.

And it is really what I want to do! In fact, the reality of our move is getting closer and closer, to where I can actually smell plumerias and taste manapua! das right!
And all those fears about moving, they are gone, gone, gone, like a jet-plane to Hawaii. Yes, I want to move back, and yes, I will be bringing my grown-up, married self along with me. ha ha.

So, I am so excited to get back to da kine! I am so excited to introduce our kids to sea turtles, and surfing, and rainforests, and mango trees. Micah and I are so excited to plant our seeds and roots in such a beautiful, natural paradise, where there is more than enough to do for all of us! Zadok is already so excited about all the animals. He asks us everyday what sorts of critters live on the land and in the sea. (He is planning out his Polynesian-creature-power suits)
I am really excited to plant myself in a community long-term, to get to know the people and the ward there, and be involved with all the little, wonderful things that make up life.

Back to the annoying jitters. So why these annoying jitters? Well, every morning now, I wake up and look around my house and think, "Oh my holy goodness, I have to do something with all this stuff!"
This apartment is filled with seven years of our marriage belongings, necessities, presents, souvenirs, furniture, books, toys, appliances, and stuff that we have collected as a family. When I was single I had 2 large boxes to my name! Now I have an entire household and more. Since we can't take it all with us, my huge, overwhelming task at hand is to organize, categorize, simplify, and downsize, until we are down to almost nothing but the essentials.

Well, almost the essentials. There's still a lot I can't part with.

I don't get attached to furniture, which is good. It will be easy to sell or get rid of all our dressers and beds and chairs and such. (which half of them came from thrift stores, anyways)
However, as I look around I can't help but sniffle over the thought of parting with my wooden, handcrafted, 1975 sewing-thread holder, or our nice set of glass Pyrex bowls we got at our wedding. Then there's little things like the snow globe of Temple Square that I got Micah for Christmas one year, and the toy keyboard we gave to Zadok while he was waiting for Odin to be born in the other room. What about those? They are cheap and replaceable, but hold nostalgic memories for me. Then there's the little knick knacks and kitchen things that we take for granted every day; the garlic press, the rolling pin, my beaded purse, and don't forget the junk drawer of random necessities that glues our whole family together!
Do I just let them all go and replace them later? And what about all the gifts we've received over the years? The toys that the boys love and cherish, and the wooden train set they love? I can't part with gifts! AAAAaaaaagh! This is making my head spin.
And what about giving stuff away? Does anyone need a nebulizer, a giant fan, or a popcorn popper? They are all free, along with boxes and boxes of other stuff I'll be producing over the next couple months.

On another note, I was thinking again this weekend how badly I want this to all work out, and asking God to hear my prayers about Micah getting a good job over there. Then the thought came to me that God wants me to be happy and live a life I love, but he also knows that I can be happy anywhere, because I have a family that I love.
This is really the thought that puts the icing on the cake for me. Hawaii is merely a tasty lick of frosting compared to what we already have.

So, I really hope we can get over there, and that Micah gets a job offer, but if we end up staying and working here, I won't cry and make a big fuss. Promise.

Seriously though, does anyone need a maddock?

Fast food

2011-04-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Renee took this picture while I was nursing Jonah and walking at the same time. It's a skill I've mastered over the years, as an avid Mei-tai user. Not too shabby, eh?
So I guess this is what I look like while walking, chatting with friends, watching my two older boys pet bunny rabbits, enjoying a sunny day at the farm, all while giving my baby the healthiest nourishment! It really works for us, and I love it!
For more pictures of our farm day field-trip visit Renee's blog here.

8 Month stats

2011-04-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

8 months is my favorite baby age!
We LOVE our big baby boy!
Here's our 8 month old squishy stats:

*Weight- 21.4 lbs
*Height- 27 inches
*Teeth- none
*Chubby legs- the squishiest ever

*What I love- When he grabs my face and slobbers all over it, with a BIG, Pootie kiss.
His big smiles, and that he is so happy all the time!

*Major Milestones- crawling, pulling himself up on things, babbling consonants, scavenging for food scraps under the table.

*Started wanting and eating solid foods at 8 months old. Favorites are applesauce, mooshed bananas and peas. (not all together)

*Favorite toys: my hairbrush, measuring cups, and Odin's remote control dog (which O gladly shares with baby Pootie.)

*Defining baby noise: He makes this really long, low-pitched, screechy sound, which is his happy noise. I absolutely love it!

*Favorite activities: Sticking hands in my mouth while having his milkies, crawling from one room to the other looking for things to put in his mouth, taking baths in the big tub, sitting up by himself, hugging Papa when he comes home, watching his older brothers as they play.

We just love this baby so much!!

Every night we put the two older boys to sleep at 8pm, and then it's us and baby until about 10 or so. Sometimes it's exhausting because it's the end of the day and I feel like I am entitled to some sort of break! But, I truly appreciate and love this special time we have together, just me and him, and Papa. It will go by so fast, and he'll be a big kid sooner than we really want!
The other night as Micah and I were alone, playing with Jonah, It felt like our first baby again. The house was all quiet and we were both transfixed on him, oogling and cooing at our little, baby boy. Each child is so special to us.

What color eyes does a goose have?

2011-03-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

The questions from my 5 year old are flying at me faster than I can keep up:
"Does a squid have lungs or gills?"
"How many eggs does a Platypus lay?"
"How does a cat drink water without it spilling from it's mouth?"
"What is the defense mechanism of a Walrus?"
"Why do female ducks look different than males?"
"Why do Octopus squirt ink?"

At first it was really overwhelming for me, especially to think that my child actually believed that I knew all these answers! I started keeping a running list on the kitchen counter, of all the things he was asking me, so I could look them up and tell him later. Wouldn't that make me look so smart? ha ha. But that really isn't the point, is it?
These past few months a light has ignited within our 5 year old, spreading into a giant, burning, bonfire, of learning more about everything animals!

It has been really exciting to see him begin to focus on learning about something he feels truly passionate about.
I just keep thinking over and over, "So this is when the homeschooling fun begins!"

Well, our goal is really to help him learn how he can expand on that passion to learn more. I don't want to provide all the answers. I couldn't even if I wanted to! I want him to reach out into the world and find the resources he needs to learn more, get excited more, and do more!

It is all just really cool.

Some things we have been doing to enhance his desires, and encourage him to learn:
Observing animals in natural habitats and farms,
Reading animal books from the library,
Watching animal-nature movies and TV shows,
Frequent trips to the Zoo,
Keeping an animal-science journal,
Incorporating animal facts and stories into everyday life
Pretending to be animals and putting on puppet shows
Talking about our personal experiences with animals (With an ex-zookeeper Dad, that isn't too hard, and Zadok adores all his animal stories.)

But most importantly, we are allowing him the freedom to learn all these things with his own creativity attached! You see, one of his sole motivations in learning more about animals, is because he wants to build "creature power suits". He is pretty serious about it, and it is no laughing matter in our house. He is collecting the data he needs to build the greatest, most powerful creature power suits in the world!
Right now he is making blue-prints for a dolphin and a Giant squid:

Here's the owls, and Draco-gliding suits:

And every morning when I wake up, I don't know what animal he will be
pretending to be that day. Will he be a duck, a wombat, a shark, an alligator? Usually something with a great defense mechanism.

I love this. I love all of it! I love that the excitement to learn more about animals from our 5 year old son, has involved the whole family to learn and get excited, together. I mean, I never imagined that I would be so intrigued to know that a Platypus is one of two mammals in the world that lays eggs and makes milk! But, it's cool! And homeschooling is cool, too. :)

Parmesan, black bean, tomato, and olive Couscous

2011-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

We love Couscous around here! It is made from a healthy grain (wheat), is really quick to cook (5 minutes), and is affordable! The boys usually like it served plain, with just the flavors of bullion and butter. I like to spice mine up with whatever I find in my cupboards!

I came up with this recipe a few months ago, and it has been a hit at several potlucks we've attended since. (On St. Paddy's day I dyed it green!)

Couscous:
2 cups dry Couscous
3 cups water
2 tbs butter
2 tspns flavored bullion

Boil water with butter, and bullion. Once water is bubbling, add Couscous. Stir until combined, turn off stove and let sit until fluffy (about 2 mins)
Pour warm Couscous into large bowl, let cool, then refrigerate until chilled.

Couscous salad:
1 can Black beans
2 tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 can black olives
"Newman's Own" Parmesan Garlic dressing.

Combine everything together with a large spoon, then add about 1/2 cup of dressing.
Enough Couscous to feed a large family, or friends at a potluck, or Couscous salad for me, for days!

Creature power suits

2011-03-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

There is a secret power that one can possess, if they truly desire to help animals. The power lies in the bear paw symbol, which can be activated from the front of an ordinary T-shirt.

First you have to touch the animal that is in trouble, which will then trigger the activation of the creature powers of which that animal holds. Next you touch the bear paw and shout out, "Creature Powers Activate!"

Creature powers can be anything from webbed feet, to gliding wings, to underwater gills, to extra speedy, Cheetah-running power. Once you have the power of that creature, you can BE that creature. And, along with other super-powers of strength and stamina, this is the ultimate secret weapon of rescuing hurt or endangered animals.

Within the wild minds of two very excited little boys, this animal-power-activation process all works out, and has made two little boys very serious about animal rescues!
They have been watching this show called Wild Kratts, on PBS kids, and along with their own imaginations, have created a world all their own.

It's all about saving animals at our house these days, and every day brings new opportunities for adventure and fun!

Creature Powers Activate!
**T-shirts found from dresser drawers, with felt glued onto them work marvelously.
**Yesterday we picked up litter from a nearby creek, for the animals.
***Several days ago they saved a worm from drying up in the sun.
***During the week we feed the ducks and geese, and pigeons.
**We wander the forest looking for animals in trouble.

waiting for the call

2011-03-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

We've decided we really want to move to Hawaii, the place where I grew up and we both love. Micah flew over for a preliminary interview a couple weeks ago, and now all we can do is sit here and wait for the call.

Waiting is the really hard part. We know they need teachers, specifically in his field. We know they will be hiring. We know they need teachers and will be hiring right where we want to live. But we don't know if they will hire us.

This is the part that requires the utmost faith, that yes, God has a plan for us, and yes, whatever happens will be for the "welfare of thy souls."
We're doing all we can to work hard and make things happen in the direction we feel is right, and now we wait.
So, we are waiting for the call. Waiting, waiting, waiting......waiting for the future to unfold. I think they start hiring at the end of May. This waiting is going to be annoying.

Today I am focusing my positive energy and prayers in the direction of Hawaii. You, my little, tropical islands, are on my mind, and I can't wait to reunite with you, we think.

Soul Surfer

2011-03-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

There's a new Hollywood surf movie coming out April 8th, called "Soul Surfer," about the life of Bethany Hamilton. She was the 13 (now 21) year old girl who was attacked by a shark while surfing on Kauai in 2003, losing her entire left arm.
I hadn't paid too much attention to the news story at the time it happened. I was living here in Utah, far away from Hawaii and the surfing scene. But I remember being shocked about the way it happened, because it was such a beautiful, crystal-clear morning, and the shark just came out of nowhere.
I can remember so many times waking up early, as a young girl, before the sun had risen, to catch those crystal clear waves, just like her. You never thought in your head, "A shark might come bite my arm off." But...It happens, and it happened to the little Bethany Hamilton.

When I heard this movie was coming out I decided to go check out her book at the library, and read about it, first. The book is also called, "Soul Surfer," and it is actually a really inspiring book! At first I was intrigued by the shark attack, and had fun reading about her life surfing and growing up in Hawaii, but most importantly, I walked away super inspired by her faith in God and Jesus Christ.

Bethany Hamilton is a Christian and believes that this shark attack, which was really traumatic and hard, actually opened up a window for her to teach others about Christ. How awesome is that!
She has taken this opportunity to be a missionary, and to be an example of hope and faith that God has a plan for us, even when life doesn't go the way we expect it to. She has helped so many people to have hope during hard things in their lives, especially youth who have undergone serious accidents and problems they didn't feel they could overcome.
After Bethany's shark attack and loss of one arm, she still went on to become a professional, champion surfer. Now that's hardcore!

I loved reading this book, and I loved that her optimistic attitude allowed her to use this accident as a way to serve others and God. Can't wait for the movie to come out.
I hope it conveys the same positive message as the book.

(And when I say book, I'm talking hardback, thick font, double spacing, with pictures, written by a 14 year old. It's an easy one, and I read it in 2 hours. Go check it out!)

owners manual

2011-03-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm certain there's about a million different opinions about what to do when your 7 month old baby wakes up in the middle of the night, and only wants to play. It was 2am this morning when I heard Jonah fussing in bed next to me. So, I did the first thing I always do, nurse him til he's well-filled, until he passes back out, a belly full of warm milk. It usually only takes one "side", before he drifts back into happy, sleep-land.
But that didn't work this time. He was still fussing. So, I tried the other side. Then back to the other side. Then back to the other side, until it was very clear to me that he wasn't going back to sleep, no matter how many "sides" I gave him!

There's no baby owner's manual that tells you what to do in this instance. There's only what you feel in your heart is right. It's 2am, I'm half asleep and exhausted, and all I want to do is drift back into my own happy sleep-land. But here I am, rolled up in a blanket on the floor of the toy room, watching this sweet baby.......play.

The whole time I kept thinking, "He's so adorable! So cute and lovable!He can do no wrong in my eyes, not even at 2 am!Tomorrow's gonna be tiring."
Here's a small peek into my morning this morning. (Note the toys he played with are things I don't usually give him: my camera case, a balloon, and the snot bulb. Anything to please a baby at this too-early hour, right parents?):

2:00am:

2:30 am

3:00am

3:30am

4:00am:

4:30am, back to sleep, drifting into that happy place we love. Silly baby.

40 days-facebook free

2011-03-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

I decided to give up checking and browsing facebook for 40 days. Some friends of mine were discussing what they should give up for Lent when one of them jokingly said, "How about facebook?" We all laughed.

The general consensus amongst us was that giving up facebook would be impossible, because facebook is such a lifeline, and such an important connection to the rest of the world!

"How would I know what was going on everyday?"
"How would I connect with my friends everyday??"
"How would I be able to share my happy/sad/frustrating news everyday???"

Well, once upon a time we didn't have facebook, and once upon a time we were all still functional. So, I temporarily deleted my account, just to see. I have until April 18th until I allow myself back onto facebook.

I think everyone gets something different out of facebook. For me, fb is a way to hear news about people- a marriage, the birth of a baby, a move to a new place. And not only do I get to receive news, I get to share news. I can't even name all the blessings that have come from connecting with friends on fb. Oftentimes when I have needed help, or needed an answer to some quandary, the answer has come from a facebook friend.
When we had to hurry up and move to SLC, with nowhere to stay, it was a fb friend who offered her mother's basement for us to stay in. When my phone fell in the water and I needed a new one, it was a fb friend that replaced my phone. When we were looking for friends to kid swap with, so Micah and I could get dates, it was fb friends that we swapped with. (and it's still working out marvelously, by the way)

Sometimes I think even God even uses facebook......or else he answers our prayers through other facebook users. he he.
I'd also like to think we have helped other people as well, through the opportunities we've found via social networking site.

But, even with all the good things that have come from being a fb user,there is also this addiction that keeps me coming back, at times when I really don't want to. Like late at night when I want to read a good book, fb wins. Or in the morning when I want to make a delicious breakfast, fb wins again, and we eat toast. Sometimes I even use fb to ignore my responsibilities, or my whining kids, and that's no good. No good at all.
I have been spending more time than I want to on fb recently, and if I recall, that's one of the things on my happy list of things not to do.

So maybe I shouldn't give up facebook, maybe I should just practice some self-discipline!

But I want to. At least for right now. At least for Lent. I may not be Catholic but I know there is great merit in sacrifice, and with sacrifice comes new awareness and maybe even some purification of the soul.
Also, giving up facebook for 40 days is a challenge for me, and sometimes it's good to challenge yourself. (As if life isn't challenging enough. ha ha) But, I'd like to see how strong I am with this one.
Lastly, I've been getting this strong feeling that there's other really important things I need to do right now, and maybe I wouldn't be aware of them or open to them if I was spending my free time on FB. (which is only like 20 minutes a day, but I don't really have 20 minutes a day to browse the web!)

Wow-April 18th seems so far away. I can do this!

dear blog

2011-03-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

Dear blog,

I am so sorry I've left you alone a lot lately. I realize how much I miss you and how much you really mean to me. I didn't mean to break up with you so quickly and so hurtfully. I hope you will forgive me and let me explain.

I mean, we've had our rough spots, (like that time I went on vacation for 2 whole weeks), and sometimes I feel like you take too much time away from other things that are important to me. Though don't get me wrong, I still care about you.
I just feel like lately we are growing apart, and my commitment to you feels so inconsistent and unsure. I don't want to lose you, so I'd like us to stay together, but I guess I feel like I'm failing to be what you need me to be. But gosh, that doesn't mean we can't still be friends, or still meet together on occasion, like old times!!

Maybe we can just take this real slowly and not make any rash decisions we'll regret later. I think I'd like that.
And who knows, maybe we can pick up again someday right where we left off.

Friends?

Yours truly,

Sally

Privacy?

2011-02-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

As my children get older and more established as "real human beings," I am wondering how appropriate it is for me to keep writing and posting pictures of them on my blog. I know some people wouldn't take issue with it at all, but I am starting to feel like they need to have their own voice and their own rights to privacy.

When they grow up, will they be happy with me that I shared their lives and faces with the entire world, (well, it's open to the entire world), or will they be upset that I volunteered a piece of their lives without asking permission?

I am the Mother, so writing about my family and my children is a big part of who I am, but when all is said and done, they are individuals, and they are people. Perhaps that should be taken into consideration.

I am just mulling this over. Any thoughts?

Homeschooling Hop

2011-02-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying this 10 Days of Homeschooling Blog Hop, and have been reading many of the blogs, hosting this blogging carnival. If you click on that link you will find 16 different bloggers who have dedicated 10 days to writing about different homeschooling areas they are experts in. Their subjects range from homeschooling boys, to Socialization for Moms, to Montessori method, to homeschooling Pre-schoolers, to getting started as a homeschooler, to un-schooling, to many other areas that I can relate to.

I hesitate to talk about homeschooling with my family and peers because I'm not really sure what exactly what we're doing as a homeschooling family. But, as I am learning, that's okay. It's okay to figure things out as you go, and learn as part of the journey. What I do know is that all the stereotypes, labels, myths, and negative stigmas about homeschooling need to be thrown out the window as you're beginning your homeschooling journey. Homeschooling my kids isn't about what my neighbors are doing, or what those homeschooling relatives did, or what crazy story you heard on the news about un-schoolers. To me, homeschooling is about knowing my kids, praying for guidance, and meeting our needs as a family. It isn't even about public school vs. private school vs. homeschool. It's just about us, and what we feel is right.

One of the greatest lessons I've learned as a parent is that there isn't one way to do things, the world is not black and white, and learning and growing in life isn't limited to the classroom institution.

Whenever I read about other homeschooling families, such as on these blogs, I feel lifted up, and I feel inspired. I feel like I not only want to continue on the path of being a homeschooling family, but I also want to be a better organized, more thoughtful, more attentive, and wonderful parent!
A curious friend last week asked me, "So when do you start homeschooling? Around the time they start Kindergarten?"
My answer, "We already are!"
I believe learning starts the moment you enter this world, and doesn't ever stop. Learning isn't limited to Kindergarten registration, or a certain age you turn. Learning is happening now.

When we first moved into these apartments, our kids didn't know how to swim. It really stressed me out that they were 4 and 2 years old, and didn't have any water skills. I can still remember the first day we went to pool, hauling our kids in with all their flotation devices and arm floaties. They were both a little scared to get their feet wet at first, and I was scared to take my eyes off of them. I wanted them to know how to swim so badly, that I tried to give them formal lessons. "Now Zadok, this is how you paddle, and this is how you kick. Now try blowing bubbles, and stop splashing, your splashing too much. Now come here so you can hold onto me while I teach you to kick!" After several minutes of me giving orders, he was annoyed, and pretty much told me to leave him alone. So I did. Micah suggested that every time we go to the pool we just play, have fun, and enjoy our time as a family. I was still worried about them learning to swim, but was willing to let it go and just have fun for the moment.
After several trips to the pool I noticed our kids feeling way more comfortable in the water. Zadok started asking us questions about how to swim, so we told him. And he started practicing what he knew. While our family was busy playing, he would watch and learn, and we would tell him little tips on how to paddle faster, how to hold himself up, or how to blow bubbles. There was no coercion, or formality to it, just family talking to family.
So guess what? Six months later our Zadok is a happy and confident, swimmer. He loves to swim, and he has learned to swim. (I still vividly rememeber the first time he actually swam. He was beyond excited and kept shouting out,"I'm swimming! I'm swimming!!") And Odin is learning, too. They both love to be in the water, and have found a fun new skill that they enjoy doing!

This was the biggest testament to me that education doesn't have to be this formal engagement, with lessons, and classrooms, and authority figures. It's just part of simply living. This was the first of many experiences (these past 6 months) in watching our kids learn and grasp onto things, and me being able to finally throw out the idea that they need formal schooling to do that. I have learned that when you provide a happy environment for learning and growth; an environment where kids can ask questions, feel free to explore, and feel excited to learn, that is true education. For us, this will be done through family homeschooling.

Maybe someday our kids will want to enroll in a public school. That's their choice to make. I'm sure they will also be involved in many social organizations and clubs, community classes, and sports groups. Later on, I fully encourage them to enroll in college, earn degrees, or go to a trade school to learn useful job skills. But for now, homeschooling is the way to go.

Well, enough with writing, I have to get back to my blog hop! I guess I just wanted to say that I feel inspired this week, and am happy with the direction we are heading as a family, and the choices that Micah and I are making together for our children.

Micah graduated with his Masters in Science Education this past week! Yeah! And yeah for formal education that allows us to make more $$)

squishies

2011-02-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

I don't know where I come up with the nick names I call our kids throughout the day.
They know what their real names are, but have learned to answer to everything from Pootie, to Odi-wan, to Moosh face, to squishy, to Budgie cakes, to Woodgie smoosh, to whatever pops into my head. Its no wonder they call me "The Big Bootie," and I am starting to answer to it.

Here's a few pictures of my squishy,, smooshy, woodgie faces. I sure love these guys.:
Here's Pootie-poot in the bath. I love this baby. I love his slobbery kisses, his chubby cheeks, his smiles that melt me to pieces. He is my third baby, and such a blessing.

I love taking walks and nursing him. He is my little attachment, my little love.

Here's our little Odi-wan. He is such a clown, and such a dreamer. When I'm busy taking care of the baby I don't have to worry about him being entertained. I'll come find him building a dragon castle or a birds nest out of blankets, or collecting different colored hangers from the closets for fun.

And Budger-smudger, he's almost five years old and real fun to hang out with. He wants to learn how to read and write (sometimes), when he's not busy pretending to be our pet dragon named Sparky. I love his imagination and sense of adventure.

All three boys together, I am one proud Big Bootie.

my Winter calendar

2011-02-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER: Hey look guys, snow! Wooohooo it's snowing! Let's get out the sleds, and warm jackets. Oh boy, it's my favorite gloves and hat! I've missed you, my favorite gloves and hat! C'mon everyone lets' bundle up, run around, and build a big snowman! Weehoo! I LOVE snow!

DECEMBER: I sure hope it's a beautiful, white Christmas! I sure love snowflakes and snow angels, hot cocoa, and new warm pajamas! Let's bundle up by the fire, light some candles, and read Wintery poems of romance and whimsical, happy snow-filled places!

JANUARY: It's snowing.......again. I guess we should go sledding, since it's nice out. But it's so stinking cold. I sure wish it wasn't so cold. Well, I guess we'll just stay in because bundling up the kids is so tedious and hard, and I can't find anyone's missing gloves or socks. Geez, that darn cold is making my ears hurt!Let's watch a movie instead.

FEBRUARY: Stop the fricking snow already! I hate snow. And that stinkin cold air is such a harsh slap in the face. I just want to go outside and feel comfortable, and go for a nice walk without feeling the cold, sting of death on my face. Damn snow is making me crazy. If it snows one more time I swear I'm gonna lose it. If we watch one more movie I'm gonna cry. Do they make anti-depressants just for Winter?

musical beds

2011-02-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

So what is musical beds? It's when no one ever sleeps where they're supposed to sleep, because everyone else's bed seems more comfortable, more toasty, and more fun. Oh wait, it really means that all the kids end up in the big bed by the end of the night, and we are all somehow squished into this giant, cozy sleepwhich. (that's a sleep sandwich.) And then Micah or I will end up in one of the little beds because we can't sleep with feet in our face.
It's pretty comical, really. We tuck our kids into their beds at night, and then, just like magnets, they are sticking to us by morning. We usually all wake up together in one room, and everyone's smiling. And well, the baby, he's always stuck to me. I couldn't sleep away from him for a million dollars. He is tucked right up by my chest, snuggly and warm. Waking up in the middle of the night to a chubby, yummy smelling baby has been one of the greatest joys of mommyhood. All 3 times.
Here's a photo of a few of us enjoying a morning cuddle (and snack):

Hard.

2011-02-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Raising kids is hard.
My friend who is pregnant with her 3rd, recently asked me how it feels to be a mother of three so I told her,"It's overwhelming." And she replied, "Oh! Well, thanks for your honesty!"

Your welcome.

Ironically, I think it's because I've allowed myself the freedom to admit that it's hard, that I've been able to relax and have more fun with it. For me, knowing something is hard is better than trying to constantly convince myself that it should be easier.

In the past I've complained that going grocery shopping is hard, a trip to the library is hard, a simple walk down the street is hard, all the while wishing and arguing that it should be easier to do these normal things, with 3 kids.

It's not.

It's not easy because raising kids is hard work....as it should be.

Hard work became my mantra when I was in labor. I would say over and over again, "Labor is hard, and it hurts, but you can do it."
The honesty in my words allowed me to open up and birth my babies joyfully, instead of fighting against it, and spending my energy wishing against it. Giving birth became easier once I accepted that it was hard.

For me, knowing something is hard, makes it easier to cope with.

So yes, raising kids is hard, because it just is.

And I'm totally okay with that now.
And we're having a lot of fun.

Especially when I have Spiderman by my side. ;)

keeping the happy

2011-02-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not saying I'm an expert on happiness, but I do know that it is something that everyone strives for in this life. "Happiness is the object and design of our existence", as the Prophet Joseph Smith once said. And I do know that happiness is what motivates us to do things like work harder, be stronger and better, learn more, find peace, find religion, find answers and direction in life--you name it. I think most people will agree that happiness is important.

When I wake up and hug my kids and play on the floor with them, I am happy. When I wake up and start cleaning and checking email and making lists of things I need to do, I am unhappy. (I can do it later!)
When I take all the extra free time I have to write in my personal journal, or read my scriptures, or read the latest issue of the Ensign, or read a good book, I am happy. When I use all my extra free time on cyberspace social networking, or clicking through the endless sea of blogs about people I don't even know, I am unhappy. When I wake up and say my own prayers and pray with my kids, I am happy. When I exercise I am happy. When I don't exercise I am unhappy. When I watch a good movie with my husband I am happy. When I idly flip channels on cable I am unhappy. Holding and snuggling our baby makes me happy. Thinking about ever being away from my baby makes me unhappy. Working outside of my home would make me extremely unhappy. Spending time with Micah makes me happy, hence getting our kids to bed at 8 o'clock pm makes me happy.(although waking up at the butt crack of morning makes me unhappy...but ya can't have it all) Being my authentic self makes me happy. When I help a Mom with breastfeeding I am happy. When I do nice things and serve others I am happy. When I eat a lot of junk food I am unhappy. When I finish an awesome sewing project I am happy. When I let a messy house stress me out I am unhappy. When I wake up each day happy and grateful to be mother to these 3 wonderful kids and wife to amazing Micah, I am happy.Oh and rainbows and pumpkins make me very happy......and on and on.....

Knowing what makes me happy and unhappy is pretty cool. I am going for happy these days, so spending more time doing what makes me happy and less time doing what makes me unhappy seems logical. I am grateful for God's help in helping me find the happy, keep the happy, and continue to follow the happy. I fully appreciate that He points me in the right directions (when I ask), because otherwise I could be a basket-case.

Everyone's happy is going to be different.
This is my happy right now.

I should also mention the happy inspiration I've received from reading this article, "Of Things that Matter Most." by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Some of my favorite quotes,
"In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e."
"We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strenghthen our families."
"I think most of us intuitively understand how important the fundamentals are. It is just that we sometimes get distracted by so many things that seem more enticing."
"As we evaluate our own lives with a willing mind, we will see where we have drifted from the more excellent way. The eyes of our understanding will be opened, and we will recognize what needs to be done to purify our heart and refocus our life."

Also, photo booth makes me happy:

"Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God."
— Joseph Smith Jr.

Wake up, smiley

2011-01-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

singing lessons

2011-01-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

Junkdobots

2011-01-25T14:54:00.001-08:00

What you get when you combine playdo with the junk drawer, and make robots.

A day at the beach!

2011-01-21T10:57:00.001-08:00

We love the beach so much that we took a spontaneous day trip to the beach while we were in California for Christmas. It took us 2 1/2 hours (that's CA traffic) to drive there from Micah's parents house near Victorville. We didn't even have our swimsuits, although we didn't really need them because the water was freezing. However, that didn't stop Zadok, who was running around in his underoos the whole time.

I miss you, beach! I miss your seaweed, and your crunchy sand-in-the-toes feeling. I miss your smelly smell of salt water, mixed with salt air, mixed with fish parts. I even miss making pee-pee sand balls and throwing them at people. (that one was for Sarah) But what I especially miss is that magical connection I feel from growing up in the ocean. The "I know you old friend" feeling I get when I manage to find my way back to her sandy shores and sparkly waters.
It was so thrilling just watching the boys play at the beach. Even if it wasn't my beach, it was a beach, and watching them play and explore made me want beach back in my life. (We're working on that one, by the way)

Zadok pretended he was a dog the whole time, digging in the sand. I thought he would get too cold after three hours of rolling in the water and fetching sticks, but not so. This is one tough dog! I think his name was Hammer.

And Odin busied himself finding treasures, and handing them to Mom. We found seashells, sand crabs, sea-weed bubbles, and sticks. Odin found a special red stick that he brought all the way home to Utah.

And seashells:

I love the beach so much that I would marry it. Except I already married Micah and I love him more. But I still love the beach.

Apron making

2011-01-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

My first apron was constructed recently. After I finished it I felt like I should be inducted into the domestic arts hall of fame.
I made it because I wanted to try something new, and I also made it because I wanted to make something handmade for someone special for Christmas. I started by looking up patterns on the Tipnut "5o Free Apron Patterns you can Make." From there I found a few patterns I liked, then sort of put them together in my head. I had been to World Market that day and had seen some really cool, ethnic looking aprons made in India. One of them had a very long, adjustable strap that pulled from one side, around the neck, and then through to the other side. That way, you can just pull the one, long strap behind you and adjust to the tightness you want. And that was the start of apron inspiration. I ended up with a Polka dot, Hawaiian print, reversible, thigh length apron, with adjustable straps and reversible pockets. Oh, and a little ric rac because who doesn't love ric rac? It was really fun to make, and pretty easy. But don't look too close at the detail, it was my first apron.

I am starting another one for myself soon. It's going to be rainbowy.

Gr8ful

2011-01-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for exactly 8 things right now, and you get to hear them:
I am grateful:

1. For libraries and checking out free learning materials for our family to enjoy. I am really into trying out new music lately and love the CD selections. (Currently listening to Jamaican Playground and Songs to Grow On For Mother and Child by Woodie Guthrie)

2. For our Samoan neighbors downstairs. They laugh really loudly a lot, and smile really big and yell, "HI SALLY!" when I see them, and blast their music at all hours, and value their friendships and families. I miss the unconventional, outspokenness of the Polynesian culture, and am grateful that it's somewhat here at our apts right now.

3.That my husband isn't one of the 14,000,000 Americans that is out of work right now.

4. For finding La Leche League 5 years ago and how it has helped shape my mothering knowledge and experience in such a positive way.

5. For answers to prayers. For that gentle nudge you feel when you know you got the answer you need, then you go forward peacefully with what you need to do.

6. For Wendy and Sara, my two friends here in SLC. Last week we went out to lunch and had so much fun talking for literally hours. We don't hang out all the time, but knowing they are here and they are my friends, means more than they know.

7. For knowing that my family is more important than anything else, and for loving and embracing my role as a mother and a housewife. For knowing that I don't have to feel pressure or guilt for doing what I love the most. (I know the pressure is out there full force, but it's no interest of mine to be a part of it. I am happy right where I am and I'm grateful for that!)

8. That God gave me a sense of humor. I find a lot of things funny, things that really shouldn't be funny, are funny. I like to laugh a lot and I'm grateful for that.

That's 8 for being Gr8ful! Have a nice day!

1,2,3......

2011-01-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Okay boys, I really, really want to take a cute, orderly Christmas picture with your matching jammies! Now stay still, and smile at the camera. Okay now Zadok, you need to move closer to Odin. Now Odin please sit up better so Jonah doesn't keep falling over. And put the toy down because it's distracting him. And look at the camera. Please Zadok will you sit up and stop making silly faces? And Odin keep your toungue in your mouth, and hurry before Jonah falls over...And smile.1, 2, 3 and...click:

Maybe next year.

Mei Tais make friends

2011-01-14T12:36:00.001-08:00

Our little Zadok was just 3 months old when we first moved to Idaho in 2006. Micah and I had lived in Los Angeles, CA for the first 2 years of our marriage, and were now beyond ready to move on. I'm still not sure what possessed us to choose Idaho, as neither of us had any real connections to the place. Micah had an aunt and uncle in Sugar City that he worked for before his mission, and I had heard of Idaho, but had never been there before.
I remember driving all night to get there, leaving the bustling, polluted, city lights behind us. We arrived in Sugar City early in the morning, where we finally got out of the cramped car and dumped ourselves onto Micah's families front lawn. When we woke up the next morning, we were Idahoans.
I can still remember the feeling of complete liberation as I saw the beautiful scene around us; green meadows of grass and flowers, tall fields of wheat, a little creek passing through the yard, and the majestic Grand Teton mountains standing tall in the distance. I was so happy to be in the country again.

After renting an apartment in Rexburg for 3 months, we ended up buying a house in a small town called Rigby, population 3000, which was about 25 mins South of Rexburg. It was a small, cottage type house where we planted a huge garden and put in a wood stove. I put Zadok in his little pouch almost everyday and went walking around the neighborhood, breathing in the country air. I was happy there, but starting to really feel like I needed to find some friends that I connected with.

It was one Sunday at church that I finally saw another Mom wearing her baby in a sling. Our eyes caught immediately and I knew it was friendship at last.
This Mama introduced me to the Mei-tai babycarrier, which is, to this day, my most favorite baby sling in the world. She gave me my first Mei-tai as a gift, then taught me how to pick out the right fabrics and sew them, and then how to really enjoy babywearing as an integral part of my whole parenting experience.
I already knew that wearing your baby in a sling means more than buying a product; it's a powerful way to connect with your baby, and ease the challenges of parenting. However, owning a Mei-tai, made it all so much more enjoyable!
Micah and I have countless experiences of wearing our babies close to us to get through hard things, like teething, sickness, crankiness, owies, and fears. Especially Zadok, who is so shy, the Mei-tai really helped him feel secure. I can still remember the way he'd snuggle his head down into my chest when we entered a busy room.

It's no wonder my eyes perk up whenever I see another Mom with her baby in a sling, because there's always that possibility that she might feel the same way I do about babywearing. (Although, I realize It's not always that way, but the chances are high in my favor.) Finding friends is often difficult when you move to a new place, so having this commonality made it much easier for me. (And yes, I eventually made new friends who didn't wear their babies in slings, too.)

So although Idaho wasn't really where we wanted to stay forever and we've since moved on, that's where I first discovered that Mei-tais make friends.

This is our very first Mei-tai, gifted from our friend. In this photo, I hadn't learned how to use it correctly, yet. (Notice the bunched-up straps.)

Check out my "babywearing" label for more babywearing pix and info

Zadikin

2011-01-13T20:22:00.001-08:00

I told Zadok I thought he looked like Anikin Skywalker (you know, the young Darth Vader from the Star wars movies) and his reply was,"Yeah, except I can't make all that cool stuff like him." he he. Someday young Zadikin, someday. Then I asked Zadok if he was going to join the dark side, and he said very emphatically, "NEVER!"
I guess that's where the resemblance ends...thank goodness.
What do you think, do we have a match?

bragging rights

2011-01-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

I sewed my husband a pillowcase with a pocket for Christmas. The idea is that he'll find random love notes and delicious treats as he lays down after a long, hard days work.

I am proud of my man. He just finished his Masters degree in Geo Science, in less than 6 months. He is the first to ever accomplish such a task at his online university. He will be walking at his graduation, (cap, and gown, and tassels and all!), February 12th. He also just got hired for his first real teaching job at a middle school here in SLC. He is teaching Science to a lot of kids who barely speak English. And he enjoys the challenge, of course.

I love you deary. Thanks for not being a bum, even though you look like one sometimes.
(just.... kidding)

the pile

2011-01-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

My worst enemy,
my archerival,
my most infamous nemesis,
worse than Superman's krypronite,
more daunting than a dark, bleak wintery day,
my least favorite domestic chore:
The laundry pile!

Is it just me or does folding clean clothes and putting them away seem like the most tedious, annoying task ever? This is what happens when I try to ignore the laundry pile: it grows bigger.

Family stools

2011-01-10T08:42:00.001-08:00

I found these little stools at a thrift store for $5 each. I have never reupholstered a chair before, but thought I'd give it a try. All you need is some cute upholstery fabric and a heavy duty stapler. Here's the old look:

I had this plan to make my kitchen all matchy, with matching stools and a matching tablecloth and maybe even some matching potholders, but then realized that the kids would appreciate dinosaur stools so much more. Maybe someday when I'm 50 my house will be my own individual style. For now, it's all about kids, and that's okay too.
Here's how they turned out:

I hadn't planned on anyone else helping to cover the stools, but once I started, everyone looked over and wanted to be a part of this simple project. Odin and Zadok helped unscrew the screws, Micah helped staple and hold down the fabric, and I delegated jobs. ha ha. Spontaneous family project night.

Where's baby??

2011-01-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

The other night I had dream that Odin was a baby again. I could see his little face next to mine, and we were cuddling in the bed. Then all of a sudden I woke up, picked up Jonah from next to me, and placed him on my chest. In my dreary state of middle-of-the-night disillusionment I thought baby Jonah was Odin, because of my dream. Then I looked over to where Jonah sleeps next to me and panicked because he was gone.
I checked to the right of me and he wasn't there. I checked to the left and he wasn't there. I started to check under the covers by my feet, on the floor next to the bed, up above my pillow. No baby Jonah, anywhere. I was in total panic mode.
I was about hysterical when I woke Micah up yelling,"The babies gone! Help me find the baby!"
Then all of a sudden the disillusioned blurriness disappeared and I realized that the baby on my chest was Jonah. And Odin was the giant child in the toddler bed next to me.

It was such a relief. I couldn't go back to sleep for quite a while because of how scared I had felt. I kept thinking back to that moment when I thought baby Jonah was really gone, and I couldn't shake the fear of it all. (Sorry for the wake up call, honey.) Glad to have all my children safe and well, and grateful each day that they are within hugging distance from me at all times!

Oh sweet baby Odin, you are almost 3 now, and how you have grown!
Here's alittle baby Odin waiting for some grub:

Here's a big Odin holding his favorite Pootie:

The Ice -cream parlor

2011-01-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

When I first moved to Provo Utah in 2002, to attend college, I knew about one person. It was a huge adjustment for me, moving to this new town and starting out brand new. The school was so big and so different from my small hometown college in Hawaii.
I found a place to live with 3 other girls whom I had nothing in common with and didn't feel compelled to hang out with. There were some lonely weeks walking to and from my classes, waiting to meet and make new friends. I tried to be social and smile at all the strangers I met, but it wasn't until months after I moved there that I finally found my social niche, and found the friends I really connected with. (friends that are still some of my besties today)

I remember one, cold, snowy night at the very beginning, my roommate came home and convinced me to go to a church social FHE, where all the single college students from our church got together once a week to do some fun activity or another. She really had to twist my arm to go, as I had been to one before, and it didn't really knock my socks off.
I finally concluded that I could use some social interaction, so I went. I figured it wouldn't hurt to make some new acquaintances, and maybe even a new friend.

This particular night about 25 students were car-pooling to an ice-cream parlor for shakes. I jumped in a car with a bunch of girls and guys I didn't know very well. We chit chatted and exchanged names. We ordered ice-cream and talked about school. After we finished our ice-cream shakes I excused myself and went to the restroom.
When I came out several minutes later everyone was gone. I couldn't believe it. I had to walk about 2 miles back to my house in a downpour of snow! It was cold, dark, and pretty scary. I knew in my heart of hearts they didn't leave me on purpose. I found out later what happened was that nobody knew me well enough to care which car I came in, or which car I was driving home in, so they all just ignorantly left me there.
That experience made me kind of bitter at first, but led me to laugh about it later on, when I finally found wonderful friends who cared about me.

Toys and things

2011-01-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

Odin dragged all his "friends" into his bed with him a couple weeks ago. After he plopped them all down he got the saddest look on his face and cried,"Now where am I going to sleep?"
He was so genuinely upset and concerned. I tried hard not to laugh. Micah came in and showed him how to line them all up so everyone could fit. Here's a happy Odin, sleeping with his animal friends:

There's a lot of new toys around here which has been really fun! (thanks friends and family and secret Santa!) We were all really looking forward to Christmas so we could get some cool, new things for the boys to play with. We don't buy a lot of toys very often because we've noticed that things start to recycle themselves after awhile. For instance, nobody touched the stuffed animals for about 6 months, now all of a sudden they've become the most coveted thing in the house this past month. They've been carrying them about, making up stories about them, using them as props, weapons, and even cuddling them in bed. It just came out of nowhere! I'm so glad I didn't throw them out!
I've noticed that even if we buy a cool, new toy it is only as fun as their imaginations allow it to be. Most of the toys we buy aren't really used the way you'd think they should be! Our toy broom is a magic wand or sword most of the time. The rubber animals make great booby traps in the hallway, and the doll house is a dinosaur lair. We just don't need a whole lot of toy turnaround because 6 months later they'll turn their old toys into something new.
We do have some favorite staples, however, that we love to play with regularly:
playdough
puzzles
costumes
stuffed animals
board games
action figures
Random toys we find at the thrift store
ropes, strings, blankets, and handkerchiefs (for whatever)
flashlights
puppets
modeling clay
giant Leggos or other building/stacking materials

But, the most important thing we need is to relax, have fun, and play together. We could buy every new toy in the world but it just wouldn't be fun if nobody sat down and played.