Musings From Paradise

Hmmmm...

2011-07-28T18:58:00.006-10:00

This is what happens when the kids say they are "playing games" on my phone. Yeah - we'll see if I let them "play" again any time soon:)

Well, apparently Isaac actually plays games -just the girls where being naughty...this time!

Check out Abi's video (that she's SUPER embarrassed I'm posting on my blog right now - LOVE IT!!):

My Teaching Blog

2011-07-24T14:04:00.004-10:00

I'm decided to take the plunge and start a teaching blog. Hopefully I will more diligent in blogging over there:) I will still be using this blog to continue to share our family adventures with you. But if you want to check out some of what's going on in my classroom you welcome to pop on over to Mrs. Peterson's Room!

A Year Ago Today

2011-07-23T22:33:00.006-10:00

It's Saturday night and I'm in the bathroom dying my hair and painting my toenails (a girl's got to multi-task) and it just popped into my head that I was doing this exact same thing on this day last year. (Though I do dye my hair and paint my toenails MANY more times that just once a year.) And it got me to thinking -

Last year at this time I was on Oahu. Getting ready to fly to Maui by myself...to start my first teaching job by myself. Did I mention that I was going by myself?:) While it made it a little scarier, and a little more stressful, it was a good thing - I was able to get the things done that I needed to at the time.

Looking back I can't believe it's been a year. In many ways the time has gone my way too fast - my kids are older, I have a million things that I was planning to do, planning to see, not many of which actually got done. In other ways it seems like it was the longest year of my life. I never thought I would get my classroom done in time, or that I would figure out what I was doing teaching a bunch of 5 yr olds, or that I would be confident in my ability to do so (we're still working on that one). I couldn't imagine that the school year would ever end - right about February I was sure that I wouldn't make it to May. But things got better and I did. And I think I did OK.

And now here I am, ready (we're using that term loosely here) to start on my next teacher adventure - honestly it's not that much different than last year: same school, same grade (classroom still not ready). BUT this year I'm in a new room (not a portable), with a 3 (out of 9) new teachers on our K team, and one year of experience under my belt. Actually I'm super excited for this year, now that I've been through it all once at least I know what to expect and mostly what to prepare for. I'm ready (mentally) to learn and grow with my new class. But mostly I think this year I'm ready to enjoy teaching - at least a little more:)

Teacher Freebie

2011-07-07T00:03:00.003-10:00

I'm not sure that I have too many people reading this that are actually teachers - but I discovered a new blog to follow and she giving away a great Birthday Unit to use in the classroom. If you want to check it out you can head on over to Peace, Love and Learning!

As a side note - I am working on my own teacher blog, though I haven't decided yet whether it will be a classroom blog or a place for ideas and inspirations....we'll see. I'll let you know when it's up and running.

Summer Adventures

2011-06-26T13:42:00.010-10:00

And lately we've been on quite a few - trying new things, seeing new places, and hanging out with friends.

Since we're on summer break from school right now we're trying to take advantage of our free time and actually do some of those things you always mean to do, but don't ever get around to. You know, because when you live in Hawaii you tend to just say, "Oh, I can do that next week, I'm too busy" (or lazy, but you know - whatever). Anyway, we met some friends at church that are only going to be here on Maui for about a year - basically a very extended vacation - so we teamed up to motivate each other to actually go, do, and try the fun things on the island. It's been really good and I think we can all say that we're having fun. We usually try to do 1 or 2 things a week - the beach usually being one of them, and something a little "tourist-y" for the other one.

Usually I'm up for the tourist-y activity on Tuesdays. It's during the week so it's not as crowded, the real tourists are still a little jet lagged, plus Tourist Tuesday just sounds cool. Other weeks we've visited the Maui Ocean Center (an aquarium) and we went on the Swinging Bridges hike with our niece and her hubby (read about that here). Well last week I hadn't planned anything, but our friends asked if we wanted to meet them at the beach and that they would bring their paddle boards. For those of you who are going - What? Paddle Boards? - let me explain. Paddle boards look very similar to surf boards, but they are generally longer and wider and rather than using wave power to get around, you use a.....paddle! Really it's kind of like canoeing standing up...but not. Anyway - here are some pics I found when I googled paddle boarding (so it's no one I know in the pics):

Not everyone likes it or gets it, but I've wanted to try for a while. It's hugely popular here on Maui - I don't really remember seeing so many paddle boarders on Oahu, but I'm sure there are plenty there, too. Anyway- our friends have a couple of boards and so they brought them down to the beach Tuesday morning and we all tried them out.

I loved it! Isaac and Abi were both really into it. Cameron tried it out, but says he doesn't get how it would be fun. He thinks it's pretty boring to just paddle around. Danielle braved sitting on the back of a board for a few minutes, but as she's not a confident swimmer yet, I think she was more worried about falling off than enjoying the ride. Oh, and Juliana is still terrified of the "water getting me", so she usually sticks to just swimming at the pool.

Here's a few pics of the kids trying it out:

You start out kneeling up like this before you stand - normally one person at a time.

Abi in all her surfer girl glory. Seriously - she looks the part, don't ya think? (FYI - that's Lana'i, not Maui, in the back ground - we're not that far out in the water!)

This picture is from so far away, but I had to include it because Isaac is on the board on the right - totally standing up and paddling around on his own (our friend there behind him isn't holding on, just hanging out near by in case Isaac needed help - he didn't).

Abi is on the board to the left, kneeling.

And just because we didn't get a pic of Danielle, I will take the time to upload a super short video with her in it. (Seriously like 9 sec, I think.)

And lucky us - we got to go out again on Saturday morning, too - though the water was very choppy and made for harder balancing, but it was still fun.

I'm totally all for getting our own paddle board, but even used ones are a little pricey (like $300-500) and I'd have to get a roof rack to take it down to the beach. And while I would probably get out at least a few times during the rest of the summer, once school starts I don't know how much we'd use it. I'm still thinking about it.....but it might be better to rent one a couple of times:) We'll see.

Well, we've had a few more adventures I need to blog about - seriously last week was crazy because our friends are leaving for the mainland for a couple of weeks and we were trying to get lots of fun island stuff in before they go. So, hopefully I'll be on to tell you all about them soon, but we may be out adventuring some more:)

PS - Well, at least I got my background issues figured out, but I still can't get the font size bigger - sorry if you have to squint!!

Waihe'e Valley

2011-06-12T16:25:00.009-10:00

A couple of weeks ago our niece, Ami and her husband, Matt, were visiting Hawaii on vacation (see all of their adventures here) and they spent a few days on Maui - one day specifically to hang out with us. I wish I could say it was because we're so cool like that - but honestly the fact that they planned a day to spend with us is because they are so cool like that. The kids absolutely love Matt and Ami and had a great time.

So I was trying to plan something exciting to do with them - I was given the guidelines of something "treacherous and rewarding". Ummmm, I have 4 children, so I was a little nervous about the treacherous part, but I kept my eyes open and actually came across an article in one of the free weekly papers that float around places like Jamba Juice (well, that's where I found it anyway - a whole basket of them for your weekly reading pleasure). The cover said something about a swing bridge hike and I knew that I'd found our adventure - before I even opened the paper and read the article.

So that's how we ended up in Waihe'e Valley on our fun filled day with Matt and Ami. It was really a great hike. You do have pay a couple of bucks a person to get in and park (that part is on private land) but it was worth it (plus that means you car's a little safer than normal "tourist-y" places). The hike was 4 miles long round trip, with 2 wire and plank swinging bridges, 3 river crossings guaranteed to get your shoes REALLY wet, and a swimming hole at the top.

Since we STILL cannot find the charger for our camera (I'm going to get a new one for my b-day, I just haven't been shopping yet) Ami was our photographer for the day and I think she did a fabulous job - thanks for sending me the pics!

First up - a view of the valley from the bottom-ish of the trail. It was a little cloudy that day, and even more so up in the mountains - it made for a good rainforest atmosphere.

About a mile up the trail and just past the first river crossing (which could be easily avoided - I just didn't realize that until my feet were already wet) you come to the first of 2 wire and plank swinging bridges.

There was actually no water under this one. And I have to tell you - at this point I was a little worried that the kids were going to fr-eak out and we were going to have to drag them across, but I was totally wrong. The big kids (Abi, Isaac, and Danielle) all went across without so much as a hesitation. Juliana on the other hand would have nothing to do with the bridge, but she was totally fine riding piggy back - holding on to mommy so that I could hold on to the "railings". It have to say, I thought it was a little freaky, but maybe that's just because I had a 3 year old on my back and I was being super cautious. But there was no need to worry, we all made it across and were anxiously looking for the second bridge to conquer. (This one actually had water under it.)

After the crossing we had about a mile more to hike, on a narrower trail. Here's Ami, Abi, and Danielle in a small bamboo forest near the top of the trail.

(Isn't Ami super cute? That stylish scarf around her neck...it's a beach towel.)

Finally we reached the top of the trail - it ends at this swimming hole. That's Cameron in the water - and the water was cold, Cameron loved it.

In addition to lots of cold water to swim in, there was an area that people were jumping off of into the water. It was seriously 12-15 ft. above the water. Cameron was having a hard time jumping off it - the first time he went in he actually climbed over to where the waterfall was a jumped from there.

But our daredevil children, Abi and Isaac, just jumped right off and had a great time!! Which is really odd since they've been a little reserved about water and swimming in the past. However, both have really taken to the water recently. But to jump off a 12 ft. high rock - seriously? Those are my kids? Are you sure?

Here's Abi jumping - we didn't get a pick of Isaac in motion but the boy jumped 9 times (he counted). Oh - I should tell you, she jumped from where the people up on the top left side of the photo are. I think that body with the white blur is Isaac waiting his turn.

Like I said, the water was cold, but they had fun. I even jumped off once. (It would have been more, but we had a few instances of nature calling so I had to find an appropriate place for the kids to answer.) And Cameron did finally jump off as well.

One last photo - here's Danielle feeding a few doggy treats to a dog that hiked up with his owners. The dog managed to steal one of our sandwiches as I was returning from nature calling on the second child. The owner let the kids give the dog some treats (hopefully not as a reward for stealing the sandwich, so much as a tactic to allow us to finish eating without losing any more food).

I think in the end everyone but Ami got in the water at some point. Matt, Abi, Isaac, me, and Cameron all jumped off the rocks - in that order - and Danielle and Juliana climbed down the rocks with me and got in the water for a few minutes before they were thoroughly cold and ready to get out.

All in all it was a fun time. And it was great to spend some time with Matt and Ami. So nice to have someone come and visit us. I mean - come on - we live in Hawaii people! You'd think we'd have friends and relatives knocking down our door. But alas, we don't. So we're glad that Matt and Ami made it out and that they were willing to hang out with us while they were here. Thanks for the fun time guys!

PS - I tried to make the font bigger, but it won't do it. Sorry, hope you don't have to squint.

PPS - I have changed my background 3 times - 3! - but it keeps reverting to my Happy New Year's background. Sorry.....it's not just because I'm a slacker - though I am.

A little humor from the classroom

2011-05-11T20:55:00.000-10:00

So.....

Obviously the blog has taken a back burner to - oh, I don't know - everything else in my life!! But I blog in my head ALL the time - about everything. Too bad I can't just upload it all at the end of the day real quick, though you might get bored hearing about planning lessons and cooking dinner and nagging the kids to clean up or put their laundry away - real exciting stuff, ya know?

Anyway. I - well, Juliana - was just watching "Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That" and they were talking about camouflage and it reminded me of a little funny at school today.

My not so little kinder babies are all growed up now and working on writing sentences on their own - spelling phonetically the words they don't know. We decorated fish today and then they had to write a sentence about their fish. My favorite was:

"My fish has kamofloss."

Not that I could spell camouflage right {seriously the spell checker had to fix it BOTH times I've typed it here}, but it brought a little chuckle. At least he didn't take the easy way out and say "spots" or "dots" like most of the class (because we know all the sounds in those words).

Life here is good - We've only got 11 days of school left! Crazy, can't believe the year is almost over. And I am getting a real room next year - though only because my good friend is moving to mainland - but I'm more than happy to hand over the portable classroom to whomever the "new" teacher will be. I kind of feel bad for her (him?) but not bad enough to give them my new real room:) But the point is I will be working hard to get my things packed up and ready for the custodians to move {Man, I wouldn't want their jobs - they work SUPER hard all of the summer to get everyone's stuff where it needs to be all the while deep cleaning and dealing with stressed-out and crabby teachers that want back in their rooms already!}. And I have LOTS of ides for next year swimming around in my head - I can't get them out fast enough. It doesn't help that I've discovered a whole new reason to be addicted to reading blogs - teachers!! So many great ones out there and they are more than happy to share what they do and how they do it.

I'm excited for next year - now that I've got a year under my belt in a super environment with a great team of teachers to work with. The dynamics of the school will be totally different next year for many reasons (new principal - we don't know who yet - new curriculum coordinators, 2 new kinder teachers - 7 of our current 9 are returning next year - AND new standards - Hawaii is switching to Common Core for K-2 next year) , but at least I've don't it all once, kind of:)

OK, got to get this last little lamb to bed so I can load the dishes and get myself to bed. Thank my lucky stars that I have a dishwasher now..... I think I would die without it!

Isaac's Baptism

2011-02-13T15:45:00.004-10:00

Well, I'm only a week behind on this post and it's been a doozy of a week, plus I have lots left to do to get ready for school tomorrow - with it being Valentine's Day and all. But I wanted to take a quick minute and share Isaac's special day with everyone.

As most of you know, Isaac had his 8th birthday on Christmas Eve 2010. This is a big birthday for families that belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Once you are 8 you are given the opportunity to be baptized and become a member of the church. Isaac has been anticipating this day for a while and has been preparing himself and made the decision to be baptized. Normally he would have be baptized in January, but we decided to wait a month so that Cameron's parents could make it out for the big day.

So, Isaac was baptized and confirmed a member of the church on Saturday, February 5. Lucky Grandma and Grandpa were there because the one family picture that we did take at the baptism on my camera we accidentally deleted when an unnamed son was playing with my (cheap interim) camera. (Remember, can't find the charger....though good news - we found the card reader!) He felt super bad, but Grandpa Peterson to the rescue. He took lots of pictures and was will to share.

Isaac and Dad (who did the baptism).

Isaac with Grandma and Grandpa Peterson (who did the confirmation).

Isaac with Bishop Bowers.

We're so proud of our Isaac - he's growing up so fast and he's developing into a great boys. He's starting attending Cub Scouts since his birthday and well and he's just over the moon about it! His Wolf Den Leader is the greatest and they've already been on a field trip and Isaac's working to have his Bobcat badge by the Blue and Gold Banquet - ours in in a couple weeks!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

2011-01-20T20:14:00.003-10:00

I know - probably the last 3 words you would ever expect to read on my blog, but so it is:

I wish that I had taken my own photo, but we were on the way to school and looked up to the mountain (Haleakala, a dormant volcano - but it has erupted more recently than some volcanoes on the Big Island) and what do we see? SNOW!

Danielle saw it first. She says in the car, "Hey mom, isn't that snow up there?" And I don't even look and replied that I didn't think Haleakala was tall enough to get snow. Then I looked....and sure enough, there was snow. The picture above is sort of the view that we had, zoomed in of course, from the highway on the way to school. Unfortunately you couldn't actually see the snow from school - the school is right off the highway, but kind of sunken and has LOTS of mature trees, normally a great thing:) And there was too much cloud cover today, so I don't know if it melted or not yet.

But let me tell you - a weird feeling to be dying of heat in 80 degree weather, and then looking up and seeing snow on the mountain peak. Though, I have learned that it is 10,000 feet above sea level at it's peak, WAAAAY taller than I thought! But it only snows here on Maui every few years or so when the conditions are right. However, it snows on the Big Island pretty much every winter - all winter long. Strange what elevation does to weather!

Now that's some snow that I can love - from a far!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T23:02:00.002-10:00

OK, ok, I know I such a slacker when it comes to blogging lately. Don't worry, I've been chastised and I'm looking to mend my ways, but I can't promise anything - whatever time I do find on my hands I usually spend sitting on my rear end vegging out on TV or reading a book (or solving the Rubik Cube, a new favorite pastime) - I gotta have a little down time to myself, ya know? I know you do. And I know you won't hold it against me.

And just so you know, I was totally prepared to blog about the few Christmas-y things that we've been doing around here, but I can't seem to locate my card reader, so I can't upload the pictures off my camera. It has one of those annoying SD cards that DON'T work in my 5-in-1 card reader on my laptop, of course. And to make matters worse, we also can't find the battery charger for the camera (which, of course, doesn't take any old regular battery), so I can't even take more pictures that I can't upload.

So since you can't see the pictures or videos, I'm not going to blog about it....yet. There's really no point, is there? I know you want to SEE what we're doing instead of just using your imaginations, right? Right, thank you.

But I will say that we're doing good, keeping busy. We're almost ready to plant grass in our backyard - Cameron's been working on that FOREVER and it's looking fabulous (before and after pics to come - darn camera!). I'm enjoying my 2 week break from school, though I need to get planning next week so that I'm not so stressed once school starts up again. The kids have been enjoying their break, too, though we've been making them work at home - it's good for them, builds character.

And I will share my favorite moment from this week (not counting all the ooohs, aaahs, thank you thank yous, and general Christmas excitement that just can't be heat). We were eating lunch the other day - it was corn dogs (see, I was thinking and actually bought lunch foods - most of us usually eat school lunch), which I know Juliana has had before. But she took her first bite and looked up at me with complete amazement and happiness on her face and said:

"There's a hot dog in it!!"

Aah, the joys of a 2 yr old.

PS: If you thought jet skiing was fun....

2010-11-23T20:03:00.002-10:00

Google maps again - get directions from Laie, HI to Seattle, WA. Look at #7.

Oh, and if you're parking at Turtle Bay, don't forget to get a validation.

I promise a more life-filled (though maybe not as humorous) post soon:)

Need a little laugh?

2010-11-05T23:46:00.004-10:00

Try this - a great end to my not so smooth Friday:

1.Go to Google maps.
2. Go to “Get Directions.”
3. Type Japan as the start location.
4. Type China as the end location.
5. Go to direction #43.
6. Laugh, and send it on.

Do it - now - trust me, you'll at least chuckle a little:)

Halloween Rerun

2010-11-01T16:41:00.004-10:00

Well, life is certainly keeping me busy here on Maui. I feel like I don't have time for anything else beside school and family. We still have boxes that haven't been unpacked or found a home - good thing it NEVER rains here:)

But we did have some Halloween fun. Since I knew that I wasn't going to have time to make new costumes, and since no one here had seen them, we opted to rerun our Harry Potter costumes - and they were a hit (of course). Here's a run down of our Halloween activities:

1. Thursday Night was our ward Trunk-or-Treat. There was a good turn out, though it was really dark - not many lights in the parking lot - it's an old building - but it was fun enough. One of my students attends the ward and it's always fun to see her outside of school - it takes her a second to remember that she sees me at church stuff, too.

Here's the "trunk" of our van. The lighting effect of my cool battery operated candles isn't as spooky when the camera is flashing, but you get the picture. Nothing fancy - just whatever decorations I could find before we left.

2. Friday night was the school's Fall Festival - basically a Halloween Party. We stayed for the costume parade and contest (which 2 of the kids won in their grade level) and then headed out - it was hot and crowded in the small cafeteria. There were games and crafts, but I was ready to go home and Cameron didn't argue with me about it:)

Here's a picture I had one of the other kindie teachers take for us before we left.

Not quite as cool as last year, but close.

3. Sunday night - well, I wasn't really too excited about Halloween being on the Sabbath, so I decided to nix the traditional trick-or-treating (I was really mean and didn't even hand out candy), but instead we all watched cheesy Disney Halloween movies all afternoon and then went to bed. Terribly exciting, I know, but I just couldn't do Halloween on Sunday. And since we no longer live in a predominantly Mormon community there was no trick-or-treating on Saturday (like most of my Utah/Idaho friends had). We survived, and the kids didn't seem to care too much, they still got to gorge themselves with candy and stay up late since we didn't have school today (Monday - I did, but they didn't). However, I am looking forward to a non-Sunday Halloween next year where we can walk around the neighborhood. I better start figuring out what we will next year - we're running out of ideas that involve the right mix of 6 related characters. Suggestions???

And just because I haven't blog in like FOREVER, I thought I would give you all a little treat and include a few pictures of my classroom. Not the greatest pics, but there was an afternoon a couple of weeks ago where all the kids were playing so nicely during center time - basically free play time, but I assign the center they go to and then we rotate as time allows. Usually I'm dealing with someone or something, or reminding everyone to play nice or quiet down. But this day for some reason everyone was getting along and actually doing the activity they were supposed to. You know as opposed to building towers with the books, throwing the blocks, or chasing each other around with the play food. Seriously - you'd think I was in a room full of 5 year olds.....oh wait, I am. Well that certainly explains A LOT!!! Just kidding. I'm learning to love it all - even the annoying crazies brought on by the full moon. (Seriously, full moon=crazy kids....it's true, ask any teacher.) And you'll notice that I blacked out the kids' faces that were showing - their my kids, but not really mine, so I want to protect their privacy - I also blocked out any names that were on the walls and readable for the same reason, so excuse the dots and blurs.

This is the front of the room and our main learning area (on the rug). The blue tape are the kids' spots on the rug. They usually get mangled or torn off pretty quickly. These have been on for a few weeks, I'm impressed that so many are still there. This is also were we have our reading center with our class library. I would love to have pillows and beanbag chairs, but I'm not sure that the kids (or my classroom budget) can handle them right now. Maybe after Christmas break.

This is the favored side of the room. It has the play kitchen and the puzzle centers. As much as I LOVE that I have a kitchen, it takes up so much space in my tiny, tiny room. But we make it work as best we can.

This last picture is of the block center (that you can't really see) and the math center, which is just connecting cubes in different colors that the kids can make different patterns out of. I have pattern strips in the box with the cubes that they can copy, or they can make their own. I had originally planned to change this center out to different things, but the kids keep requesting this one, so if I don't have anything else specifically planned I get out the cubes.

I've added a few things to the room since I took the pics, but not too much. I should really take more pictures, I just don't remember to bring my camera to school. Though these were taken on my camera phone and they turned out pretty good.

Well, this has taken a lot longer to post than I thought it would, of course, but I wanted to get something up for Halloween. And I'll leave you with my top 3 reason I love being a teacher so far:

3. I get to work when the kids are in school (well, except for Juliana). We get up and get ready and go to school together at 7am and then they come to my room and supposedly do homework while I prep and then we all head home together at 3:30.

2. Scholastic book orders! It's like Christmas every month. We have an additional program that allows most of my class (17 out of 20) to order books from Scholastic for free each month. And Scholastic has great programs for teachers to earn free books for their classroom library. (Side note: If you're a teacher reading this and you don't do Scholastic book orders - yet - let me know and I'll give you referral info and we both get FREE points for books.) I just got our October order in today, so I'm a just a little excited about all the free books right now!

1. I have 20 more kids (you know, besides my own) - 20 kindergarten babies, that I love to death, who whine and cry and tattle and complain, but at the end of even the worst day they give me a hug I get to send them home to mom and dad, hopefully a little bit smarter than I got them in the morning:)

Musings From Just Another Paradise

2010-09-10T16:06:00.003-10:00

I'm SOOOOO sorry that I haven't been blogging in like forever, but I'm sure you can understand that life has been a little busy. Well, maybe you understand.... let me explain for those of you who aren't up to speed on the Peterson Household.

First of all - we no longer live on Oahu. That's right, we left paradise - and headed for another. We are now living on Maui. In a town called Kihei, down on the southeast side of the valley the runs through the middle of the island. How did that happen, are you asking? Well, I was offered a position teaching kindergarten at a school here and I took it! It was very fast and crazy - I got the job right before we left for our vacation to the mainland and then I had to report to work 6 days after we got back, with no place to live and cars on the wrong island. I told you it was super crazy. But we did it.... well, I did. It was too stressful getting us all over here in 6 days, so I went over by myself for the first week. Rented a car and stayed in a hotel room (well, at least at night) and work all day in my classroom to get it ready for my students. The one thing that didn't happen was finding a place to live. It just wasn't happening. So I went back to Oahu for the weekend, and came back Monday morning alone, again. Stayed in hotels, rented a car, and met my students. Luckily we just had orientation and individual testing, so I still had time to get my room organized, because even with all that time I had the week before it was still ...... unorganized. Found a few housing options, but hadn't made any decisions yet. The house I loved was a little more expensive than we wanted to spend, so we tried to negotiate, but it didn't pan out. Meanwhile I had another landlord calling me because he wanted us to live in his house - it was nice, a little small, with only dirt in the backyard, but he was willing to put in grass and it was totally fenced in - a big plus when you have 4 kids that are used to playing outside all day. However, it did have a studio apartment in the garage that was occupied by a single gal - less room for us and having to share the driveway, washer/dryer, water heater, etc. Anyway - that's where we ended up, price wise it was great for what we get and he threw in cable and use of his internet connection, so we couldn't turn it down. And it was in the boundaries of the school I'm teaching at, so the kids could just go there without having to do transfer paperwork (because they were to come to school with me no matter where we ended up living - benefit of being staff). So I was able to bring the big kids with me when I came back after the second weekend so they could start school - only a week late. And that week we also got the van shipped over from Oahu, so we were able to pick it up half way through the week, which was so nice. I missed my car. Then a week later Cameron and Juliana finally made the trek over and joined us. The container finally made it and now we're here - finally. However nothing is really unpacked yet. We just kind of find stuff we need as we go. The back yard is full of stacks of boxes and and bins. Luckily it NEVER rains here - we're on the leeward side here. I wouldn't mind a little rain now and then to keep the dust levels down, but since a lot of our possessions are outside at the moment I'm very grateful. And we did buy a shed to put up out there, but we haven't set it up yet. I mean seriously - when do we have time. Every weekend we say we're going to stuff, and every weekend flies by.

But overall I think we're starting to adjust. Its strangely different here than Oahu - I mean I knew it would be, but its more different than I thought it would be. But we're meeting people and making friends. We've attended the ward here (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) for a couple of weeks now and it seems like a great place to be. The kids are liking their teachers and still think it's fun to come to my room after school to do their homework (I'm thinking that will wear off eventually, but so far it's still cool). I get to see Isaac and Danielle at recess, and usually see Abi walking back or forth from her recess. Cameron and Juliana keep each other company and home and usually drive us to and from school so they can have the car during the day. However we did pick up our other car just today - it will be nice to have 2 cars again, just in case. Now Cameron and Juliana won't have to get up so early just to get us to school so that I can get things ready for my students.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Life is so crazy, like I said. But we're here, we've survived the summer and have even made it to the beach once. I know - sad isn't it.

Unexpected Choices

2010-07-03T16:09:00.002-10:00

Well, as some of you, perhaps even most of you, know there are exciting happens going on in the Peterson household. Most of which at the moment involve packing and moving yet one more time, but not to where we expected. Not that it's a secret, but I don't really want to publish it on the world-wide web until it's official and all the papers are sign and what not, so it will still be a while. Until then, if you happen to talk to one of us you'll probably hear the news. So if you are SO anxious that you can't wait a few more weeks to find out what's going on you'll have to either call or email. Otherwise I promise an update with details as soon as I can.

PS - for those of you who don't want to look it up ;) our email is cnlpeterson@gmail.com

The Tides are Finally Turning and Life Decisions

2010-06-21T20:02:00.003-10:00

I'm very optimistic that the ukus are now under control. I know it hasn't been 2 weeks, but it has been over one and I haven't seen a live one in a few days now. I'm not ready to declare victory yet, but I'm close!

Other than that, there's not really a whole lot going on here - physically anyway. Mentally and emotionally our panties seem to be all in a knot as we're trying to decide what the future holds for our family. Now that I'm done with school we don't really have a hold on our life here in Hawaii, rent off-campus is way too expensive to just be "hangin' out" until we figure things out. Seriously, every time we make a decision, something happens that makes us rethink the choice we made. The mental seesaw of chaos is getting heavier and heavier by the day. But we have faith that the Lord has a plan for us, we just need to be patient in our waiting to find out what it is. In the meantime, I'm applying for teaching positions - mostly in Utah, but I have applied here in Hawaii as well. There look to be a few jobs available on the east coast, but as that's unfamiliar territory (well, at least in our married/kids lifetime) I haven't actually put in an application anywhere out there yet. I'm also waiting for my actual teaching license to be issued, that will be immensely helpful in the application process:)

So, nothing too exciting, just wanted to update you all on the buggy battle, as I know you're all waiting breathlessly to make sure that our heads are clean before we all may or may not visit you over the summer - I would be too:) I did take the perfect summer nap picture of Juliana the other day, but its still on the camera and I'm too lazy to go find the camera and the card reader...so sorry!

I think the ukus are winning

2010-06-13T15:28:00.004-10:00

Seriously, I'm so close to waving the white flag and just letting them have our heads.

For those of you that are not local, an uku (pronounced oo-koo) is a louse, as in head lice. We've been battling them pretty steady for the last couple of weeks and I'm beginning to feel defeated. See the heat and humidity here in Hawaii are just the perfect climate for these little parasites. And quite frankly I wonder how we made it for 3 years without a single infestation - but this one makes up for it all, believe me.

It all started back in May - I went to the Big Island with my fourth grade class for 4 days. I came back and the next morning was kindergarten "graduation". As I was getting everyone ready for school I say down to do Abi's hair and before I even put the brush in it I knew - she had ukus. A LOT of ukus. The infestation was all the way up to the crown of her head. Live lice as well as so many nits I don't even think I can put a number on it. After a quick check of everyone else's hair I promptly put Abi's hair in a tight pony and put a hat on her head and called her in sick. But she did come to Danielle's "graduation" with us. Then I had to head off to school myself, but Cameron washed Abi's hair with the lice shampoo I happened to have on hand - seriously, it was bound to happen and I found some on clearance on shopping trip that didn't expire for a long time, so I picked it up.

So I got home Friday and picked.....and picked....and picked some more. Oh and on Saturday, too. Oh, and Sunday. On Sunday I picked until about 10:30 at night and called her uku and nit free and sent her off to school on Monday.

So that was the end of it, right? Right??? We did wash everything and I check her hair every day. I did pull out a few more nits here and there, but they were pretty far up the hair shaft, making them old and I wasn't seeing any new live lice.

Until my birthday. Which started out great - I slept in. We were finally all moved over to our new place as of Saturday night. I had nothing on the docket for the day and I was planning on just being good and lazy. That was until I was lazily laying with my 2 yr old as she was waking up from her nap and I was running my fingers through her soft and gorgeous baby hair (which is finally getting thicker, if not longer) and here they were - NITS. A lot of them. I didn't find any ukus on her head though. But there they were on Abi's head, and Danielle's, and Isaac's. I was not a happy camper. And as my father so witty-ingly said "it made for as lousy birthday". Get it "louse"-y. Funny right - I totally didn't get it the first time. Maybe it was my grumpy mood at the moment that made me miss it, because it was funny. Anyway, the rest of the day was spent picking and shampooing and washing and drying. Loads of funs - literally loads (you know, of laundry).

And every since then it's been a constant battle. Everyday I find just one or two little suckers hanging out on someones head. We've used every kind of shampoo we can find. And last night I finally got some coconut oil - hello! Hawaii, it's not hard to find, and it's what everyone uses, but somehow I got stuck on the shampoos. And then just today a friend reminded me that she used Listerine on her daughter a couple of months ago and it worked great.

So that what we're doing this week - Listerine treatments everyday and coconut oil on every night. For two weeks - I'm serious. I'm going to squash these little buggers if it's the last thing I do!!!

Actually, I think Juliana and Isaac are clean. So 2 down, 2 to go. Oh and I'm treating myself just to make sure. Cameron's avoided everything so far. But coconut oil is going in everyone each night, I'm not messing around. And tomorrow I'm seeking out some tea tree oil - I head it repels ukus. Anyone around here know where I can get some? I figure I'll at least have to drive into Kaneohe or Kailua, but I'm willing to drive all over if I have to.

Wish me luck!

**I thought about starting this post with a nice big picture picture of an uku, but I decided I'd spare you the grossness - and also the pity you might feel for me having to pick them off of my kid's heads.

I'm DONE!

2010-06-03T23:10:00.003-10:00

I did it, I'm done, and I just wanted everyone to know!

Today at 2:30 pm (Hawaii Standard Time) I handed in my final papers and forms to my advisor and walked out with a paper stating that I passed and will be recommended for licensing! Yippee!

It's only taken me 15 years, but I've finally officially graduated from college!

PS - the May Day post is all done, but I can't get the videos to upload. I'll try loading them on youTube next week and post it all then.

May Day 2010

2010-06-01T19:27:00.013-10:00

OK, while I’ve had the commentary all finished up for May Day for this year I hit some major snags when I was trying to upload the videos. And since I actually made sure to take some good video this year I wasn't about to post this without it. So I finally broke down and uploaded the videos to youTube instead of blogger and embedded them here for your viewing pleasure. {Those of you who get this by email will need to click here to see the post online to watch the videos.}

So without further ado, I give you May Day 2010. For those of you long-time readers, you'll notice that this year's commentary is a little longer than usual since not only were the kids in their May Day at Laie Elementary, but my "kids", well students, and I were in our May Day at Hau'ula Elementary.

For those of you who may not have read here about May Day before it's a big production here. This is our fourth year running, so if you want to check out past year’s posts:

{Sorry, wasn't blogging back then... so you can't link to May Day 2007}

Here's the link to May Day 2008.

Here's the link to May Day 2009.

Here's the run down this year. Laie's May Day was first. Like usual the performance was at the Polynesian Cultural Center ampitheater. And for some reason my pictures keep loading in backwards order, no matter the order I upload them in, so Abi's up first even though she danced last out of the three.

Abi and the third graders danced to a song from Disney’s Hercules, among some other Greek music. She looked great in her toga and gold leaf laurel crown.

Isaac and the first grade were paying tribute to New Zealand. Isaac's favorite part was the boy's haka - I think even I have it memorized for how many times he practiced it at home (Juliana has it memorized, motions, too)! His face painting was really cool, too, but unfortunately it was washed off by the time the performance was over and we were taking pictures

Danielle and the kindergartners danced to a medley of British import songs - all decked out in their hippie costumes. And Danielle had a special dancing part that we didn't even know about, so that was fun.

Hau’ula’s May Day was a week later, thankfully. It’s certainly different working May Day from the teacher side, a LOT of work, but really fun none the less. The most unexpected part for me was the kids getting tired of practicing. They would be so excited all morning, knowing we were going to practice later – to the point that it was distracting to them. But the second we got out to practice they would all grumble and moan and not want to dance! But it did finally come together. There were a few things that we would have liked to add to it, but we just ran out of time. It didn’t help that we left on our Big Island trip the following Monday, so we were preparing for that at the same time, too. Anyway – I got to participate in May Day in 2 ways. First of course was with my students. The 4 graders decided they wanted to do something with Michael Jackson, so my cooperating teacher and I set to work to come up with a medley of songs and dances for them. I think it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. And just to toot my own horn – I did all the choreography thank you very much. Well, and a big THANK YOU to youTube and all those faithful loader-uppers, because it would not have been nearly as cool if I had to do it all from scratch.

The second way I got to participate – at Hau’ula the staff and faculty do a number of their very own! Hello – so much fun! We did an African number which I think turned out great, though attendance to practices was a little sporadic as teachers really don’t have much free time, ya know.

All in all we had some great May Day festivities. And that was just the beginning of the May crazies. As I mentioned, my fourth grade class went to the Big Island the next week for 4 days, then the day after we got back Danielle “graduated” from Kindergarden. Then the following Tuesday was the last day of school, Wednesday was Abi’s 9 (!) birthday, and Thursday was my last day of student teaching. Not that things really calmed down after all that though – I was working nonstop on my portfolios so that I can actually be done with school and trying to pack up the house at the same time. I am ecstatic to say that now both are done!

**Whew! This better all work - it's late and I've been working on this FOREVER! Hope it works...I'm going to bed.

I'm not dead....

2010-05-30T18:22:00.003-10:00

at least not yet. But I'll let you know next week. No...really, things are going alrighty over here. I just have a LOT on my plate still, even with my student teaching being done (yah!) this last week, but I have portfolios to finish and reflections to write and applying to do. Oh and did I mention that we have no clue what are plans are after this summer? Well, we'll work it out. In the mean time, I've start a post about all the May Day festivities of this year, but I just haven't had time to get it done. Once all my school work is done and we have moved (all this week) I should have a lot more free time on my hands to update the world wide web on the happening in our lives.

Until then!

A little too ironic....

2010-04-11T17:20:00.009-10:00

Irony: Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity.

April 10th, 2010 - A day highly anticipate by many students here on the BYU-Hawaii, including all of the current student teachers - of which I am one. Because while we aren't actually done with our student teaching until the first week of June our graduation ceremony would be on April 10th. And so the festivities ensued - graduation banquets (2 actually), the picking up of the cap and gown, the making of leis aplenty to hand out to friends, the shopping for and picking out of clothing to wear under the gown, and most importantly the decision of what shoes to wear. OK, so maybe for most it wasn't that big of a decision, but see I bought a new pair of shoes specifically for graduation.

Pretty aren't they. Not to fancy, but with a little formal sparkle. I even test drove them to church a couple of Sundays, just to make sure I wasn't going to break my neck while walking in them - 'cause I really don't wear heels much anymore. I mean, if I can direct choir in them I can do anything, right?

Now some of you may think you know where this story is headed. There were warnings given, e-mails sent and stories told of the dangers of wearing heels to graduation. No one wants to see you tripping over your own feet while making the congratulatory walk across the stage.

If only I made it that far.

My story is even more embarrassing - if that's possible. OK, maybe not embarrassing, but just.....dare I say it (the word is taboo at our house) STUPID!

Around 6:30am I woke up to find Danielle laying in bed with Cameron and I. I don't remember her climbing in, but it happens - someones usually waking up and getting in bed with us. Anyway, I briefly considered whether or not to take her down to her bed, and decided I might as well, then I could sleep in for another 15 min, comfortably, before I had to get in the shower. So like I do pretty much every night (with whomever has made it into our bed) I picked her up and proceeded to carry her downstairs to her bed. Only I thought I was all the way down the stairs, but I wasn't, so I slipped down the last step and fell. Danielle woke with a start, but was unhurt by the whole snafu, but I on the other hand had a lot of new aches and pains. The kind that make you just sit still and breath - hoping that no loudly shouted curses will escape your mouth in the presence of your children. As a few moments passed and the worst of the pains subsided, I finally looked down at my right foot where most of the stabbing pain was emanating from and gently wiggled and flexed all my toes. Everything seemed to be in working order, but I was sure I wasn't going to braving the heels after all. Not after a fall like that.

And then I stoop up.

And silently screamed out in pain.

And then I look down.....I wish I had had the presence of mind to take a picture of it, but I was worried about more important things like how was I going to get to the bathroom before my bladder exploded and then back upstairs to tell Cameron what happened. But close your eyes and picture this. Well, ok, don't close your eyes, because then you can keep reading - so just picture it. Left foot - big toe, just fine, first toe, isn't all crooked and weird looking - but its always that way, I just have weird ugly toes, middle toe ----- ok, wait, it's not supposed to be pointing off to the left, is it? I don't remember it being that way before. The gap between those 2 toes - the one that is usually not there because those toes love each other very much was a large 'V'. Kind of like my toes where trying to tell me to "live long and prosper" - though the 'V' was between the wrong toes, but you get the picture right?

There was no way I walking into the bathroom 3 feet away, much less walking across the graduation stage in a couple of hours. Instead I hobbled around the house enough to inform everyone of the situation and get myself dressed and the down to the car for a road trip into town to go to the emergency room. Not exactly the walk I had in mind for the day, but none the less, that's what it was.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. By the time my mom and I got home from the ER it was noon and I could see all my fellow graduates walking back home under a load of leis. Kind of a bittersweet moment, but honestly I'm not even done with school, so I'm not really all that upset. Now I'll just have to have a party when I really am done so I have get my few minutes to celebration in.

Not that I didn't get any recognition. On Monday I was greeted by my cooperating teacher at school, who made me a beautiful green (both of our favorite color) lei that I will be wearing every Sunday, along with a rose bouquet and a graduation gift. She spoiled me for sure. My friend Tricia also gave me a tuber rose lei to wear on Monday that smelled so wonderful - I had students coming up and sniffing me all day. And of course I had many, "We missed you"s and "Where were you"s over the next couple of days.

This picture does not do the lei justice - just FYI.

The good news is that I seem to be doing OK. My toe/foot is feeling better everyday. I'm no longer sporting a cool cast shoe and can actually fit my toes into a few pairs of shoes. Mostly I just have to be careful not to stand with my weight on my left foot and to sit down often - which surprisingly hasn't been too difficult, even at school.

Since I neglected to take a before shot, at least you have a during shot - here's by toe tonight, all snugged up to my second toe. And no, the second toe is not broken, too. It's always been that way.

OK, well, it's only taken me a week to get this posted, but better late than never, right?

PS: Good news - I know some of you have been up many nights over the last 2 years worrying about my lack of Strawberry-Kiwi crystal light availability in Hawaii. I know you have - you've been trying to come up with ways to keep me supplied (well, at least my mom was:) But you can now rest easy. I've finally found a store that stocks it. Thank you Target - it's about time!

pps: I really hate that blogger doesn't let you move the pictures around anymore - it sucks.

ppps: But I guess I'll forgive them because I can cut and paste before posting now.

2010-03-25T19:57:00.002-10:00

Tsunami!!! or not...

2010-02-27T20:22:00.002-10:00

Some (or most) of you may have received the following info via an email from Cameron, but I thought I would post it here, too. The whole day was pretty anti-climatic.....

"As many of you know there was an 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile. 50 years ago there was a 9.5 earthquake within about 100 miles of the same place and it caused a tsunami that killed 61 people in Hawaii and many more other places.

For whatever reason (and I'm sure there are several factors) this Tsunami has been pretty much a "bust". It has been very small and has done little or no damage to any of the Hawaiian Islands and no deaths (or even injuries from what I know so far).

There were much better warnings in place this time and we got prepared with lots of extra water, packed up backpacks in case we needed to evacuate and moved our car to higher ground.

Everyone here is safe and fine. Looks like it going to be another beautiful day here with temperatures around 80 degrees.

Lastly I got a new phone recently because I lost my old one and I ended up having to get a new phone number. Those of you who would like to know my new cell phone number please e-mail us and we'll send it to you.

Lisa "graduates" in April with her Elementary Education degree but doesn't actually finish her student teaching till the end of the kids school year which is in May. We will stay where we are until June 5th and then we probably will move to an off campus apartment until we can figure out if we will be actually able to start the North Shore Elementary Charter School that we wish to do.

o.k. I'm sure I've already written way more than most of you want to know so for now.....

Aloha!

The Hawaii Petersons"

So there you have it. (Thanks babe for having it all written out for me to copy over!) Hope that all of you are doing well, and that you fellow locals weren't too bored out of your gourd today - thank goodness for computer games and TV/movies or we all would have gone crazy. Luckily we didn't have to evacuate as we are in an upstairs apartment and the state deemed the evacuation today a "vertical" one, not "horizontal". However the kids were getting a little stir crazy since I wouldn't let them outside and they had to wear their socks and sneakers ALL day in case we had to leave the house - Trust me, that's not a fun task when they are used to running around in slippers (flip-flops for all you mainlanders) or bare feet all day.

Well, finally off to bed - today's fun began at 4 this morning!

We're in the news!

2010-02-11T17:08:00.004-10:00

So as most of you know I'm doing my student teaching this semester. I'm working in a 4th grade classroom in the local area and it's so much fun.... OK, a lot of work, but really a lot of fun, most of the time. I think 4th grade is my limit though - they are already starting to get that older "tween" attitude that I just don't handle that well.

ANYWAY - we just got back from a fieldtrip today. It was actually a sleepover that started last night. We stayed at the Bishop Museum in town, checking out some of their exhibits and then sleeping up in the "Treehouse" which is conveniently located over the top of an artifical volcano. It was a lot of fun - and very exhausting. But this morning we had some time to kill before the bus was to pick us up for the nest leg of our trip and the museum staff asked if our class would be willing to play in the new, not yet opened Circus exhibit for a live news shoot they had this morning. And so we did! Check it out:

I have just a small cameo, but the kids had a ton of fun and we didn't have to sit out in the rain while waiting for the bus!

The rest of the trip was fun, too. We hit the Mission House Musuem and learned about how Hawaiian came to be a langage that was written in the 1800s (before that it was only spoken). It was pretty cool, too. Though I am glad to be home. And I'm also glad it's a 4 day weekend - we have a furlough Friday and Monday's a holiday - I'm a little tired of my not-always-such-good-listeners for now, but I'll be ready for them again bright and early Tuesday morning.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T09:59:00.004-10:00

Just wanted to welcome everyone to 2010 - may this coming year bring blessing and success in all the ways that truly matter to you and your families.

Our family had got to take a trip to the mainland to visit with all the grandparents and my Nana. We had SOOO much fun, and packed our short 10 day trip full of playing with cousins and just having a good time together as extended family. We are so blessed to be able to see most of our extended family at least once a year - not an easy, or cheap, feat for a family of 6. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Lambarth for the wonderful trip.

It's always nice to visit the mainland - and to pick up a few choice items that are hard to locate or way to expensive to buy here - but it always surprises me how much I'm glad to be HOME when we come back to Hawaii. I love Hawaii, but there is something about coming home to the tropical air - the humidity (my skin was sucking up the moisture as soon as we were outside - it's DRY in Utah), the smell, the balmy temperature - I always miss it more than I thought I would. It's just nice to be reassured that Hawaii really is home. Maybe we won't live here forever, but I sure would miss it.

So I guess you could gather from all that we made it home safe and sound and just in time to watch everyone's fireworks on the drive home. I think the little shows here and there along the road home were better than any big show all at once. And amazingly all the children went straight from the car to bed without a peep and didn't wake up until 6am - which isn't too bad considering the time difference factors. Hopefully that means we can be back on "Hawaii" time by tomorrow morning.

Well, I have suitcases to unpack and groceries to buy ..... hmmm, hope Foodland is open today:)

Have you ever had one of those nights?

2009-12-15T01:25:00.004-10:00

Where you lie in bed, tossing and turning? And no matter what you do, you just can't seem to get comfortable?

Well.... there's always the kitchen rug. I hear it's pretty comfy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T22:58:00.003-10:00

We still have another hour to go here before the real deal, but I wanted to take and minute and wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving day. No matter what our lot in life, we can always find something, if even only one thing, to be thankful for. We need to remember to find those things and express our gratitude for them - whether to the people in our lives or to our Heavenly Father, or both.

I am incredibly grateful for all the blessings I have in my life and I forget to express that gratitude often enough. Here's just a few of the things I'm thankful for today:

My family - we have our struggles, but I am so lucky to be surrounded by the incredible spirits of my husband and 4 children. They support me, love me, stretch me, help me to grow, amaze me, surprise me, teach me, and everything in between.

My extended family - I am lucky to not only have incredible parents and siblings, but to have incredible in-laws as well. It's an awesome feeling to know that I have many people there to support and help me in any way they possibly can, not just if I need them, but because they want to.

My friends - I have so many, and I am especially thankful for the gals I student teach with. There are 7 of us that are working at the same elementary school this semester and we all car pool together. They are pillars of support and love to me -and I'm not even sure they know how much they do for me. I hope that I can be that for them in return. We're all under a ton of stress and it's just nice to have each other - to vent to, to laugh with, to talk to, to get advise from, just to be surrounded by other that "get it" because they are there, too.

My cooperating teacher - she is amazing and I'm learning so much from her. We've become such good friends in a short amount of time. I'm so glad that I go to a church school and that the faculty prays and uses inspiration when making our student teaching placements. I don't think they could have matched me up with a better teacher. We just get along and she "gets it", too. She knows I'm stressed, I know she's stressed and we both work to help the other.

Living in Hawaii - This has been a theme to my day today. At my elementary school instead of having the traditional Turkey Trot they decided to hold Makahiki games. It was SO MUCH FUN! I played a lot of the games with the kids and we all had a great time. AND my Thanksgiving turkey is, as I type, roasting away in an imu (an underground oven, pronounced like the bird, ee-moo) here on campus. How cool is that? I so can't wait to eat it. I was a little intimidated by the whole process, just because I didn't know what I was doing. Not that it's a hard process, I didn't have anything to do with the actual imu - just my turkey. But I didn't know how to prepare it. Turns out just just need foil - lots and lots of foil. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Black Friday Sales - Cameron and I have really gotten into Black Friday in the past, but since moving to Hawaii we haven't done the whole early morning thing since it's all an hour or more away. But this year we've got our eyes on a few prize buys, so wish us luck. Cameron's looking to get a new laptop (I think he's jealous of my new beauty, well and his is old and pretty much sucks) and I want the Cricut Expressions with is under $200 on Friday! That's like 1/2 price! I totally missed out on a Cricut sale in October - an educators special that was too good to be true and I was totally bummed. But this is even better! I can't wait.

4 day weekends - well, aren't we all. But I have a lot of homework and assignments and various stuff that I need to get done in pretty much every venue of my life - home, school, business, spiritual, I could probably go on, but I do only have 4 days! But I'm determined to get as much done as I can. There's only 3 weeks of school left this semester and I have to get everything done so I can start my full-time student teaching in January (which is super exciting and super scary all at the same time).

Big Ideas - I'm still in they very beginning stages of my charter school plans and things are already taking a different twist than I had envisioned, but the dream is still alive and well. In fact we just printed up a few business cards to take our networking up to the next level. I'm just grateful that I live in a country that allows us the freedoms to take control of our dreams and make them a reality - the sky's the limit.

There's more that I could add to my list, but I think I'll end it there for now. Maybe 2010 will be the year of gratitude - it would be fun to list all the things I'm thankful for for a whole year. Hmmm, something to think about whilst I'm drifting off to sleep tonight. Mmmmm sleep, I think I'd better get to sleep, I have a lot to do in the next couple of days!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

PS - my spellcheck is being stubborn and refuses to work and I'm too tired to go back and read it all again, so I hope there's not to many typos:)

What's the Big Idea?

2009-11-14T18:38:00.005-10:00

Well I have a minute (or two) and thought that I would hurry and let all of you know about the crazy and exciting week last week. It's kind of a loooooong story, so settle in and get comfy if you're going to read it all.

Seriously - I'm not joking.

Don't worry, I'll wait...

OK. Now, where to begin. I guess it all started when BYU-Hawaii announced this:

They asked every students to come up with a Big Idea - something that they could do to "go forth to serve" using their education at BYUH. Now I don't know about the rest of the university, but the School of Ed students were none too thrilled about this. Honestly, it was just one more thing to add to our already overflowing plate. (Now if there was actual food on this plate.....oh, sorry, back to the story.) Anyway everyone was up in a tiff about the whole thing, mostly because we were being required to attend this conference and it was a 2 day affair. Even the faculty at the School of Ed weren't too thrilled about that. But we decided that being a part of the University, the School of Ed was going to support the conference as best we could and show that we really were the best of the best on campus. I know that not everyone ended up with that attitude, but I thought it was a good one. So in that light, we were all to come up with this Big Idea to be handed in to the School of Ed. I thought long and hard about this and came up with an idea that I REALLY liked - it had real potential. I totally got hooked on my idea. I was supposed to hand in a paragraph describing my idea - I ended up with 3 pages! Well, I didn't hand that much in, I condensed it down the best I could, it was still a page long. So then the next step was that all those ideas (about 150 from the School of Ed, out of 600 campus wide) were whittled down to 30. Those 30 were asked to make a poster to be displayed at the conference, for our peers in the School of Ed to look at, hear about, and judge. Now mind you, those of us that were in that 30 did not know until Tuesday and we had to be ready for the conference on Thursday - not a whole lot of time. But I love the way my poster came out - which reminds me, I need to go rescue it from Dr. Mitchell's office before he throws them in the dumpster.

So, I guess there's no point not telling you my idea now. It was to open a charter elementary school here on the North Shore of Oahu. Like a said before, I really got into the idea. I still am - it's really the only way that we can stay here in Hawaii after I graduate (which is in June). If I want a job in Hawaii, I need to create a job in Hawaii.

So back to the posters. The students in the School of Ed went around and listened to 22 two minute presentations and looked at our posters. As they did this they were to rank the ideas - this idea I don't think many students actually got, but it was still nice to tell them about my idea and get a little feedback about it.

There were other aspects of the conference on Thursday, but this pretty much dominated my day. And then that night I got a call saying that my idea was chosen from the School of Ed to be presented at the conference on Friday! So exciting, and so ..... I don't know what. But I was definitely excited. However, I had to present my idea to the WHOLE UNIVERSITY! Including members of the President's Leadership Council (read VERY rich and generous donors). Just a little nerve racking - and I only had 2 minutes to present. All in all there were 13 students chosen to present in this part of the conference - 3 from each College (well, 4 from the Business College). From the College of Human Development there was one of us from each of the 3 schools in the college (the other two schools are social work and TESOL - teaching English to speakers of other languages).
Here I am presenting - the pic is a little blurry, sorry, Cameron was a little excited, too I think:

So that's most of the story. My presentation went really well, I was complemented by many very important people. One of which approached me and said that he would like to help me out (with the school). I replied that that would be great, but that I didn't exactly know what I would need yet. To which he replied, "That's fine. Whatever you need, we'll take care of it. Do you know how to get a hold of me?" SERIOUSLY?!? I just about passed out on the spot! We conversed for another quick minute - we were being smoothed by the entire school exiting the building and I think he wanted to catch up to someone else, too. And I had a small line of friends trying to wait patiently to congratulate me.

All in all - an excellent couple of days if I do say so myself! It's really hard not to let it completely take over my life since it's just about ALL I can think about. I have to keep reminding myself that I have to graduate so that I can work at my school when I'm done!

Oh, and I got written up in the school paper - just a couple of lines about my ideas, but you can read the article here if you want to.

Sooo, some of you may wonder if I'm really going to do this. Well I am! At least we're going to try. It's kind of a long and complicated process in Hawaii, but we REALLY need something in the education system to change here. It's out of control, in a bad, bad way. I won't start ranting here, but if you ever want to discuss it, please feel free to write me. I'm always up for a good educational discussion.

Oh, and I formed a group on Facebook if you'd like to join and find out more. There's not really anything there are the moment, but I hope to be adding to it soon. Any questions, comments, advise, or anything else you want to share, please do! You can do it on facebook, or here in the comments, or send me an email at NorthShoreElem@gmail.com

OK, I'm sure that I've taken up more than enough of your day if you've made it this far. Like I said, things are crazy, but fun.

Graditude

2009-11-09T21:39:00.003-10:00

There is SOOOOOO much going on here that I can't even begin to write about it tonight. I need to catch up on my school work that I've been slacking on - because of everything else going on. So crazy, and fun... and just plain crazy. I promise to fill you all in very soon. In the mean time I need to share my gratitude for 2 things today:

1. I'm thankful that the keyboard gods have listened to and answered my prayers! Juliana poured Crystal Light on my laptop keyboard on Friday night and the keyboard seemed to be totally fried. But after much pleading and praying and faith (you think I'm kidding, I'm SO not) it seems to be in working order today. Hip-hip-hooray! I've only had the laptop since Sept, I was freaking out a little on the inside. There's a few minor key glitches, but nothing I can't totally live with and besides that I'm totally confident (see me exercising my faith) that they will eventually go away.

2. I am thankful for headphones. So I can rock out to Hannah Montana after the kids are in bed without bothering the whole neighborhood. Hey - a woman's got to stay away some how. And seriously, I don't think it's possible to sit still, let alone sleep, through Hoedown Throwdown. You know you love it - just admit it already!

Boom, boom, clap. Boom-dee-clap-dee-clap

Now if I could just make it through The Climb without tearing up. Seriously one of my all time favorite songs. I can't imagine a point in anyone's life where this song is not somehow applicable. OK, now I have to go find it on YouTube so that you can all enjoy it, because as impossible as it seems to me, I'm sure that there are some of you that have NEVER heard the song. Hold on.....

OK, here it is. This is the official video, which I don't actually care for too much, but the other videos were live performances and the song quality was just not as good.

Alright. I've officially wasted too much time on this blog post! Back to work with me.

(PS - if you get this through email and want to see the video click here to see it on my blog)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T20:50:00.003-10:00

Technically it's not really Halloween here for another 3 hours, but I figured I'd better post some pics while I was thinking about it and had a few minutes. And my Aunty guessed in the comments from last post - we're all about Harry Potter this year. I haven't got a picture of all of us in our costumes yet, but I do have the kids in theirs from the school parade Thurs morning and one of Juliana from a trick or treat on campus tonight.

As a tradition, I make our Halloween costumes each year. I was trying to keep it simple this year, so I made the robes; kudos to my mom for finding the coolest Griffindor ties ever - and she sent crests for the robes, too, but I ended up not using them; the rest is just clothes we had in the closet. I love how they all came together though. So here you go:

Abby as Hermione Granger - you can't really tell in this pic, but her hair is all kinky from sleeping in braids. She looked just like her.

Isaac as Harry Potter, of course. He has since lost the glasses, but we found a replacement pair, though not quite as cute as these.

Danielle as Moaning Myrtle. When we first starting talking about doing Harry Potter characters I was thinking Abby and Danielle were going to fight over the part of Hermione, but Danielle was very adamant, even from the beginning, that she wanted to be the ghost that goes into the toilet head first. So there you have it.

Oh, and here's her hair sprayed white (because she's a ghost) for our ward Halloween party - I didn't use the spray for school. It turned out awesome though.

And Juliana - we went round and round trying to figure out who she was going to be. In the end I figured I'd just make her a mini robe and she'd just be a random student - albeit a small one. But then one night it hit me......she had to be the sorting hat!

I think it turned out adorable, though not everyone gets what she is. But the people who do get it, think she's awesome, too. And she's been a real good sport about keeping the costume on, though I'm sure it plenty hot. It probably helps that every time she puts it on people hand her candy!

Cameron and I dressed up, too, but I think I'll wait to tell you about those until I have the picture.

Have a great Halloween day and my you fill your bag with lots of goodies!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2009-10-25T16:18:00.005-10:00

Oh wait! We haven't even had Halloween yet! I guess it's all those aisles of Christmas stuff ALREADY up that made me think I might have missed Halloween this year. Seriously - it's earlier every year. Do stores think that by putting out the stuff earlier people will spend more money? They must or they wouldn't bother.

Anyway - we don't start the whole Christmas thing around here until the day after Thanksgiving, so we have a while. But we do start on Halloween in early September. It took a lot of racking of the brains around here to come up with 6 relate costumes that everyone was happy with (read the boys DID NOT want to be fairies of any kind), but we finally managed. I'm not sure want to unveil the final product yet (well, and it's not done yet anyway), but here's what I was working on last night:

Give her a lightsaber and she could be a Jedi! Not what I was going for, but that's the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture on the computer screen. (Note to self: we could all be Jedi's next year.....)

But the Halloween fun is already in full swing around here. We attended our first costume parade last saturday (as in the 17th). Since the patterns for this year had even been opened yet we raided the costumes of Halloweens (and May Days) past to find stuff that would fit for the occasion. I think I like the whole related costumes idea even more now the hodgepodge we wore, but they all look adorable. Abby as Dorothy (2008), Isaac as Peter Pan (2007), Danielle as a Tahitian dancer (May Day 2009) and Juliann as Tinkerbell (Danielles from 2007):

And the Polynesion Cultural Center is in it's second year of running the Haunted Lagoon. They basically spookify the canoe ride through the villages and start running the haunted rides with the villages shut down for the night around 6pm. We didn't make it last year, but we decided to go this year since it was free with our annual passes and we heard that it was super scary. I mean literally. We've been hearing the soundtrack of scary music and the screaming people all month long. There's something about the evening breeze that just send the sounds over this direction (we live less than a 10 minute walk from the back of the PCC). So, here are the kids waiting for the "Keiki ride" ( for you non-Hawaiin folk, the kiddie ride - our tour guide was a Lost Warrior with a special crystal that warded off the super scary monsters) in their cute Halloween T-shirts:

And then they all wanted to make scary faces (for your viewing pleasure):

And she's just so cute you get 2 of her "scary" faces.

So now we have one elementary school parade, one old ward halloween party, one new ward trunk or treat, and of course trick or treating in the neighborhood to go!

A BIG Thank You!

2009-10-15T20:34:00.002-10:00

I just wanted to write a short Thank You note since I haven't had time to sit down and write back to all of you who donated to the kids' walk-a-thon. They were all able to meet and surpass their $30 goal thanks to all of you. We really appreciate your willingness to share with our community - whether in money or spirit.

THANK YOU!

And I promise a more exciting and picture filled post....soon:)

Laie Elementary Walk-a-thon

2009-10-14T15:53:00.005-10:00

So I was supposed to let the kids write up a little ad for this, but quite frankly we've run out of time. And it wasn't the kids that put it off, it was me. It was one of those things that we just didn't get to yet, so I'm going to do it now - for them - so that I can at least say it got done!

So the kids' elementary school here in Laie is having it's annual fundraiser. Traditionally the school has held a Fall Festival/Carnival thing to do most of the year's fundraising, and while it has been successful, it was also A LOT of work (I was on the PTCO board last year, believe me, A LOT is an understatement) and a lot of overhead cost. So this year the PTCO (of which I am only a dues paying member this year because of.....well, many other commitments) decided to hold a walk-a-thon. Not only does this provide for a fundraising event where we're not forced to buy stuff, but it promotes exercise since the kids have to get moving to participate.

So here's the low down. The kids are to collect pledges (that are of course due TOMORROW) which can be paid on a per lap basis or as a flat rate. Then on Friday the kids will participate in the actual walking part after school. As they lap around the huge field they will receive tally marks on their forms counting their laps. After the event the kids will then collect their pledges from all the lovely donors to turn into the school.

There are 600 student in our school and they are setting a goal for each child to raise at least $30 - can you imagine if that really happened? This is a great school and a great community, but economically not so great. We have a lot of lower income students - I believe about 75% of our student population qualifies for the free lunch program. The funds that we can raise for the school will directly benefit the students. Education is of course very near and dear to my heart and honestly there isn't a school in the world that couldn't be bettered by having more funds available to the teachers and students. The money collected from the walk-a-thon will be given to the teachers to use in their classrooms (at their discretion, so they can get what they need), to fund a few classroom parties throughout the year (again so the teachers are paying out of pocket for these things) and then the bulk of the total earned will be donated to the school as a whole (from the PTCO).

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I won't. The kids love their school and we're hoping to be able to help out and do our part in the fundraising. SO....if you would like to pledge to donate some money to the school, please DO! The only catch is that it has to be handed in tomorrow. So comment here, email me (cnlpeterson@gmail.com), or if you know my number you can call/text, whatever. We leave for school at 7:30 in the morning, so you have until then to pledge your hearts away! 7:30am in Hawaii is at least 10:30am for you mainlanders - we're 3 hours behind California time. Remember, you can pledge an amount per lap (I'm not sure how long they are walking....this may be putting your pocketbook at risk!) or just a flat rate amount. This is just a commitment - next week we would collect the actual money.

OK, I think that's it and if it's not, I think I'm done anyway:)
The kids are super excited to walk for the school, so I'll be sure to take some pictures!

PS - sorry to those of you who get an email, too!

Just a little update

2009-10-08T23:25:00.003-10:00

Some of you may know that Cameron's been having some medical issues as of late. (And now, of course, the rest of you are wondering what is going on....well, you're just gonna have to keep wondering. Sorry, hope it doesn't keep you up at night. Nothing life-threatening.) Well he wanted me to let everyone know that he's doing good. Things seem to be working like they should. However his memory has been severely effected, especially over the last couple of weeks. So, if you haven't heard from him lately, or don't for a little while, that is why. He still loves you - it's just hard to email with you don't remember your passwords:) And don't hate him if he has absolutely no recollection of the conversation you just had with him 2 days ago. Actually, I think it's been hardest on him, since he knows that he's forgetting things, but doesn't know what it is he's forgotten.....I think that made sense.

But seriously, he's doing as good as can be expected right now and we're hopeful that some of his medical problems will at least be greatly lessened and much easier to live with. We know that many of you keep him and our family in your prayers and we are very grateful for that. Know that we think and and pray for you all as well.

You Know You're Tired When....

2009-10-03T20:40:00.005-10:00

...most of the ice cream is still in the bowl.

We're still here...

2009-09-24T08:11:00.003-10:00

Yes, we're still alive - life is just crazy. I started my professional year for school, meaning I'm in an actual classroom with actual kids. Gasp! A teacher teaching actual kids! I know, it sounds crazy. But it's been fun - I really like being a student teacher so far, though I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of constant homework since I still have a few classes on campus at the same time. At least I'm swimming and not drowning.

Ask me again in a few weeks:)

Simply Monday

2009-08-03T23:03:00.001-10:00

Simply Chaos

Dead laptop
Lots of homework

...need I say more?

2009-07-27T12:58:00.008-10:00

Well for some reason this post will not space out my paragraphs, so you have to read it all squished together. Sorry. I tried. I really, really tried.

OK, I've been doing some serious slacking in the blog department. Seriously. Do you even remember the last time I did a "Simply Monday" post? I sure don't. So I think it's about time I got back around to it.

So - I want to know how you all did with your menu planning! I did really well for a little while there, but I'm still trying to find a system that will work for me. I know that you guys are probably sick of hearing about it, so I probably won't post about it until I've got it all done. But I need to work on it. I'd like to have something firmly in place before I start my student teaching in September. Oh - and just to illustrate what a slacker I've been - remember that contest I had way back when and the winner got a menu planning binder from me? Yeah - well my friend Tonia won. And I made her the cutest binder ever. But have I even sent it to her? Ummmmm, no. So, Tonia, as soon as a re-locate it amoungst the chaos that is my house I will mail it off to you. I know you'll be anxiously waiting;)

In the meantime, I've been trying to spend lots of time over the course of our 7 week summer sorting and organizing and decluttering. Basically, getting rid of the junk we don't need or want, and finding a "home" for everything else. And though I know that I've been make good progress, it feels like it's just getting worse. I just need to remind myself that that's how it works. Right now the living room is filled with piles of stuff to be taken to the freebie bin, an extra couch that we're not sure if we're keeping or not, the kitchen table because we moped and scrubbed the "tile" and there's so much misc. crap on the table that I haven't moved it back yet, all the school supplies for the kids, a laundry basket full of clean sheets and towels, a pile of dirty sheets and towels, and a laundry basket full of misc stuff that needs to be sorted through and either put away or thrown away. I'm sure there's even more stuff than that, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. On the plus side I have finished sorting through the kids clothes and have narrowed things down a bit, supplemented with a few new school clothes and packed away the things I want to keep for Juliana and Danielle to use in a couple of years. I've also packed up another box of baby and boy clothes to send to my sister - though I'm sure it won't be sent for a while:) Cameron and I also sorted through all the books we own and cleared out some, I rearranged the living room furniture and but the books back away -and it actually looked really nice, lots of open space, hence the implosion from the other rooms. We just found out that we're going to get new kitchen cabinets, so I want to start on that next, so it's ready to go when that happens. But I think I should resort the living room again, first.

Well, now I'm just babbling on and on about crap - literally - when I could be out there getting rid of some of it. So I guess I should hop to it. But I did want to share a couple of websites that I've been reading lately that will hopefully provide some inspiriation along the journey out of chaos.

This first one is 10 Questions to Help You Declutter. These have been really helpful to me in decidid whether to keep something or get rid of it.

This one talks about becoming a minimalist in your own way. I really like the ideas here and hope to get to that point someday - soon.

I have also really been enjoying SimpleMom lately, as I have it set up in my Google Reader.

There's so many resources out there - what are some things that have helped motivate you to clean, declutter, and organize?

The Darling Diva Danielle

2009-07-16T12:10:00.009-10:00

So I've been slacking in the blogging department, once again. Summer is flying by way too fast, but we've been having some fun here and there. But before I get to posting about some of our summer activites, I need to post about Danielle.

Danielle really is the diva of our family. She's bright, she's clever (and quick), and she wants it done her way - NOW! Personally I think that she's been in complete control even from the womb. She wasn't going to wait around for any Halloween due date - it was the beginning of the month for her. Then once she was here, she ate and slept when she wanted - though I do have to say that she was our best sleeper, until she was about 2 anyway.

This girl has been talking in full sentences since she could say anything. And most of those sentences involve something clever, witty, or just plain hilarious. A recent story - One of the nursery parents had subbed for Danielle's primary class this last week. When she came to pick up her daughter from the nursery she had to tell me about Danielle's comments in sharing time. Apparently they had been sitting and listening for quite some time and Danielle was starting to get antsy. So she walks up to her teacher and says, "When is this going to be done? I just can't take it anymore!"

She's also said to Cameron - while she' s up on his shoulders and we're getting ready walk out to Goat Island (across a shallow reef), "I don't think this is a very good idea!"

Her preschool teachers were always telling me how she's such a crack up. And the best part is that most of the time she knows that she's being funny.

Speaking of her teachers - here they are with Danielle on her last day of school. Aunty Jayna and Aunty Ramiko (they do the aunty thing here, not miss). She was in the same class for the last 2 years and they really loved Danielle and she loved them.

Good thing she is so excited to be starting kindergarten, otherwise I think she'd stay in that class forever. They pretty much let her do whatever she wanted - well, within reason of course - she was always bringing home art projects and glitter and glue and paint and, and, and .... basically all the stuff that I just don't have to patience for at home.

But when she is at home, that girl could spend HOURS in front of the mirror. Give her a brush and some hair clips (and if she had her way, some makeup and lip gloss) and she can entertain herself, well, forever. She loves to do her own hair and she's pretty good at it, too. See.

Seriously - she did it herself, I had nothing to do with it, except to say, "Hold it, missy. I need to take a picture of your hair." To which she replied with a huge grin and a pose.

Now I'm sure that most of you have already heard stories about how Danielle definitely has a mind of her own (read with a screaming voice, "NO!! I'm in charge." and "You can't tell me what to do!" - I know, I know, we're doomed when she's a teenager). Here are a couple of videos from this week's adventures that show the less glamorous, but definitely hilarious antics of Danielle. (One day she'll look back on these and laugh with us, right?) Grandma, and others who get this by email, click here to see the videos.

This second one is a little long, and I was walking on uneven ground, so there's a lot of bouncing and I'm pretty sure there's no one in the shot a few times....

I never did get to watch a movie when we got home while she made dinner and washed the dishes - she was done being in charge way before that, well at least for that day.
However, Danielle is really delightful to have around - most of the time - and I can't wait to see how she comes to embrace her inner diva as she grows up.

See, she really is amazing

2009-07-01T19:25:00.001-10:00

I was talking to Cameron today while we were making dinner (and yes, WE were making dinner) and I related a story about Abby. And being the smart man that he is, he said, "you should blog about that - right now before you forget." (See, I told you he was smart.) So here I am.

A couple of weeks ago, probably on a Sunday after church (because that would make the most sense) Abby and I were talking about how temples and churches are special buildings because they are the only places on earth that God can dwell in - they are built to be His houses. And Abby procedes to say how that is just like how our bodies are temples, too, so that God can dwell with us.

Seriously - talk about profound.

PS - Don't you just hate it when your whole post erases for absolutely no reason at all - just as you finish it up and are about to hit the post button? I know I do. At least this one wasn't very long.

The Amazing Abigail

2009-06-18T20:32:00.001-10:00

Where to start with Miss Abby. She really is such an amazing girl that I don't know where to begin. Well, I guess I'll start with the most recent. Saturday was a very special day for Abby, she was baptised and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was such a sweet baptismal service - Cameron's parents came out for the event (I think they've been to all their grandkids' baptisms) and we also had a few friends from the ward attend. Abby asked Grandma Julie to give the talk on baptism and her Primary teacher to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. Both talks were excellent and I enjoyed them. I hope that Abby was listening, too - I'm sure she was. I think she was a little overwhelmed at being the center of attention, I know that I would be. Unfortunately in all the hub-bub of trying to get to the chapel on time I totally forgot to grab the camera. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa didn't. So here is a picture of us after the service.

What else to tell you about - well, she had a little birthday party, I mean after all, how many times do you turn 8? She had the choice of having a bigger party or having a smaller sleepover. She choose the sleepover. So she invited her 3 best friends and they were all able to make it. It was a fun night. The girls all played for a while and then we had make your own pizza for dinner. After jammies were put on they got a little facial and pedicure (by yours truly) and relaxed while watching a movie. Here's a picture of Abby and her girl friends.

Don't you just love that they're all in the awkward "my teeth are too big for my mouth" stage? Good thing it happens before they really start caring too much about their appearance, otherwise we'd miss out on those truly happy smiles.

Abby also had lots of things going on during the last week of school. She was Outstanding Citizen for the school year in her class (I think there was a boy selected from her class as well). She was super excited. Here's Abby and daddy at the awards ceremony:

At that same assembly Abby got another award that we didn't even know about! Luckily we stuck around, talking to some friends and waiting for the volunteer recognition thing-a-ma-gigger that was supposed to be afterwards.

So the whole school had a poster contest with the theme of "Our Laie Bay". There was an artist that was painting a couple of murals on the school and this was part of that. The murals are based on the same theme - but that's a post for another day. Back to Abby. Well, she won honorable mention in the poster contest. And, by the way, I totally love her poster. She did a fantastic job with it. It's now hanging over our table. Here she is getting her award - she was totally surprised, too. They didn't tell anyone who won, except the top 3 places, I think they contacted the parents so they were there. Anyway, picture:

And here's one last picture of Abby with her teacher from this year, Mrs. Kitagawa. I think Abby will get along great with all her teachers, she's just that kind of student (and hopefully she'll stay that way), but I really think Mrs. Kitagawa was sad to see her leave.

What else can I tell you about Abby? She truly is amazing. She is quite the helper around the house, especially when it comes to Juliana. I'm not sure how, but she can carry Juliana around - and that's seriously like half her body weight in baby! Abby brings Juliana into our room pretty much every morning and if I happen to not hear her wake up in the middle of the night she'll bring Juliana in then, too. And she doesn't ever complain about it.

She's an amazing student. Not only does she do her work, but she does it well, and I think she actually enjoys it. I know she enjoys math and she definitely enjoys reading. For most of this last school year her reading homework has been to read for 20 minutes everyday. She can read whatever she wants, and honestly, most days she reads way more than just 20 minutes. And she can be reading a bunch of books at once - definitely something she gets from her dad. I'm a one book person myself - I need to finish one before I can move on. But Abby (and Cameron) can be reading multiple books and still know what's going on in each one. I don't know how they do it.

Abby's pretty much the best 8 year-old anyone could ask for. She's generally the child that I worry the least about. She can keep herself entertained, entertain others as needed (LOVE that), and usually has a great attitude. Not only that, but she does what she knows is expected of her, and like just about everything she does, she does it well. She loves to play with her friends, she loves to play with her brother and sisters (well, most of the time), and she is constantly leaving me cards and pictures that tell me just how much she loves me. I can't wait to see just how much more amazing Abby becomes.

The Jubilant Juliana

2009-06-11T19:36:00.001-10:00

{There are (many) video clips in this post. So if you get this as an email, you'll need to click here to go to the actuall blog to view the videos.}

Juliana really is a jubilant baby. She's happy 90% of the time, and usually when she is grumpy its for a good reason. She's so easy to just take along wherever we need to go, even when we have to drive into town. She's just starting to develop her own little sense of humor - and trust me, if she doesn't think it's funny she's not going to laugh.
Here are a few highlights of her emerging personality over the last few months.

Taking her first steps. She actually did this last month while Cameron was in Utah. By the time he got home she was toddling around everywhere. A fun surprise for him.

She purrs - she doesn't do this as much as she used to, but at night she does this when we play with her, after the other kids are in bed.

She does a pretty darn good Darth Vader impression (really this is hilarious in person, the video doesn't do it justice).

A fashionista revealed - she's very recently begun to bring me clothes from her room that she wants put on. Here is a sampling of one of her fashion creations.

And the view from behind - because it's just as cute.

She's super sensitive to mosquito bites. Seriously, they turn into enormous hives. And the of course she wants to scratch them and it just goes down hill from there. If we put a bandaid on them, she just picks that off, too. We did however find some tattoo bandaids that she hasn't been able to remove, so we use those as much as we can. Here's a picture of her last bite - it was a big one. Weeks later it has finally healed up, but you can still see the mark on her leg where the skin is still red.

And she loves to dance. Anytime she hears ANY music she starts dancing. Even without music sometimes! She's a dancing fool.

{Sorry, I can't seem to find my video of her bustin' a move. I'll have to take a new one and post it soon.}

She's a bit of a neat freak. Well, ok, we'll just say she's a good helper. She likes to pick things up, which is normally great, but can be a little discouraging when you're trying to fold laundry. But otherwise it comes in handy (as anyone who has seen our house on a daily basis can appreciate).

Her most recent obsession is drinking from regular cups. She would do this all day if someone would sit with her and help her out - doing it herself doesn't last too long, once she dumps all the water on herself she's pretty much done.

She sure talks a lot, but most of the time we have no idea what she is saying. Her English vocabulary is still very limited (as in "uh oh" and "maaa-maaa") but I have a feeling that one of these days she's just going to starting talking in full on sentences.

Juliana is an interesting mix of the whole family - and really she only got good traits of each of us. She's got a love of reading from Abby (ok, so she's really just into looking, pointing, babbling, and then turning the page). She's got a need to know how things work from Isaac. She's got a need to look good (and primp) from Danielle. She's got her beautiful dark eyes and hair, and her olive-ish skin from her dad. And she got her laid back attitude from her mom.

All in all, she's quite the package, and the perfect little addition to our family. She's always excited to see us - even if you just walk in the other room, she just lights up when you come back. She keeps us all smiling, and and she gives us lots of loves, from hugs and kisses to blowing kisses and waving goodbye.

The Incredible Isaac

2009-06-05T08:37:00.004-10:00

I decided to write up a few posts that each feature one of the children. They are all doing such great things lately and have so much going on. I thought it would be fun for me and for them to have a post completely devoted to just them!

I'm going to start with Isaac. Sometimes I think the poor boy is missing out on some of life because he only has sisters. But he's a good sport and he a lot of times he plays along with girly things (against his wishes) just to keep the peace.

Isaac's been up to a lot lately. School has been keeping him busy and he's been working hard at being a good student. His hard work paid off last month when he found out that the was Super Citizen for his class in May. Daddy happened to be in Utah when they recognized him, but Juliana and I were there to celebrate with him (and Abby was in the audience, too).

And this week marked another celebration - Isaac graduated from Kindergarten! He was super excited for this, since I didn't have him participate in the graduation last year (since he wasn't moving on to 1st grade). He was up at 5:45am and by 6:15 he had gotten himself dressed in his "Sunday Best" without any help. From then until 6:45 when I got up, he was in every 5 minutes asking where his tie was. See, his teacher, Mrs. Saizon, gave all the boys in the class Eagle Scout/Missionary ties. {Yes, you can do that sort of thing in this community and totally get away with it. It's kind of cool. I'm pretty sure everyone in Isaac's class, including Mrs. Saizon, is LDS. I'm sure Mrs. Saizon wouldn't have called it a missionary tie to anyone who wasn't.} Isaac was really excited to wear it, but I didn't want to put it on until we were in the classroom at school, since he had to eat breakfast still. ANYWAY - he was ready.

The ceremony was yesterday (Thursday) morning. And after it was over, he got to come home. And the girls still have school today, so that was special, too (though I think he's already bored and it's only 9am).

Here's Isaac shaking the Principal's hand, Mrs. Voorhies.

Here's Isaac with his teacher Mrs. Saizon - after the donning of the leis. Isaac ended up giving his kukui nut lei to her - he wanted her to have one. It was super sweet. {The kukui nut one is the one that looks like black and brown beads.}

Isaac really loves Mrs. Saizon. He actually started out in her class last year. I told her up front that I was planning to hold him back for a second year of kindergarten, simply because of his birthday (Christmas Eve - he was only 4 when he started kindergarten). She really wasn't too happy about that, but didn't make a stink because I think she figured we'd deal with it later (and secretly I think she thought she would talk me out of it). Well, they formed a new kindergarten class in about November that year and he ended up moving to that class (they just moved the last 20 students to register to make it fair). I think that was one of the best things that could have happened to Isaac. His teacher last year, Mrs. Ah Sue, was much more laid back and less rigid with the students - that's what Isaac needed then. She was very supportive of having Isaac repeat Kindergarten, not because she thought he needed to, but because I wanted to. She definitely went to bat for me with the administration. They were not happy to have a Jr. Kindergarten repeat - it was kind of a matter of pride that since the program had started a few years before that all the Jr. Kindergartener has moved up to 1st grade.

{Side note - Jr. Kindergarteners are any students who were not yet 5 when the school year started. They were not in their own class, they were just mixed in with everyone else. The theory is that the students get started earlier, which is supposedly better for them (especially in a lower economic status area, which Laie definitely is), but if they need the extra year repeating kindergarten is a option for them. However, like I said, it was a matter of pride that Laie Elementary had always moved all the Jr. Kindergartens up to 1st grade. I had talked to one of the teachers when Abby was in kindergarten and she was concerned and felt really pressured to pass all her students, even though there were a few she didn't feel comfortable having move on. I didn't want Isaac to be one of those. I wanted him to be ready for 1st grade without haven't to play any catch up later. I would rather he be a little ahead of the game instead of always feeling behind. Make sense, right? OK, back to the story.}

Anyway, Mrs. Ah Sue let the administrations know my concerns. I talked to a councilor about it briefly and after getting a little flak about if, I guess they finally decided it wasn't worth the argument, because they let me have him repeat. And I found out at the beginning of this school year that after I choose and succeeded at holding Isaac back that 6 other students (well there parents) decided to go the same route.

OK, that took way to long to explaining - what I'm really getting at is how much we love Mrs. Saizon! I was excited that Isaac was assigned to her class again this year - we was ready for her. Mrs. Saizon is a most amazing teacher. She instills responsibility, honesty, hard work, all the values that you want your child to have. And she does it in such a loving way. She's a more structured (which is why Isaac needed something different last year), but in a kind way that helps the students to learn how to learn and to be in charge of their learning. I don't know how she does it - she has an amazing talent for working with children. {If I could do my student teaching with her, I would do it in a heart beat.} Isaac learned so much more from her than just academics. He's always saying her motto - I think she had them say it everyday at school:

"To be the best that I can be, the choice is always up to me."

I mean seriously people - kindergarteners that now only know this - they understand and believe it. I just goes to show the power of a good teacher, especially in the early years of schooling.

I asked Isaac what his favorite thing about Mrs. Saizon is and he said:
"She's nice. She let me be Super Citizen (obviously this was a big deal to him). She gives the best hugs."

My favorite thing about Mrs. Saizon - besides all that I've already mentioned - is that anytime she brought up something that needed addressing with Isaac, she always supplemented it with something that he did well. For example, Isaac has had continual problems with staying focused in class (and at home,too). We would have regular conversations about this, discussing things that have worked to help him. Always somewhere in the those conversations she would mention something that Isaac did really well. She was impressed with his ability to build contraptions with Legos and constructor sets that she had in the room - not just the things he build, but that he could describe all the details of it and what everything did.

And when it came right down to it, she wasn't afraid to say that though it wouldn't have been her choice to do so, she did agree that Isaac greatly benefited from staying in kindergarten another year.

OK, this post got HUGELY long. And I've wandered from Isaac and his accomplishments.

I have one last picture of Isaac and his special guests. Grandma and Grandpa Peterson made the trek out the Hawaii for Abby's upcoming baptism and a stay at their timeshare on Kauai (which we get to stay at, too, super excited about that) and they just happened to arrive in time to attend Isaac's graduation. I think it just made it that much more special for him and I so happy that they were able to make it (without even planning ahead for it). Here is a picture taken after the festivities (and it's a good shot of his special tie).

Isaac's really such an amazing boy. He's very loving - I don't know many six year old boys who still want to give their mom (and baby sister) a hug and a kiss (in front of his classmates) before they start their school day. He can climb anything - trees, swing sets, monkey bars, poles in random places. He has an amazing imagination and definitely does not lack in the creativity department. He is a budding artist, who I hope will continue to develop those talents - and I hope that I remember to keep helping him with that, too.

If there's anything you want to add about the Incredible Isaac - leave it in a comment and I will pass it on to him.

Up next - the Jubilant Juliana...

May Day

2009-05-13T09:07:00.003-10:00

Some of you may have been around for last year's May Day - so you understand just how HUGE of a deal it is. For the rest of you....well, you'll see. {if you want to see last year's post click here}

This year the them was One World, so there were dances from all over the world. Danielle (and the other preschoolers) did Tahiti. The kindergarteners, Isaac, did Italy, and the 2nd graders, Abby, did India (Bollywood). I think out of the whole show these were the 3 best numbers - but I could just be biased.

Here's the three of them together in their costumes

Danielle with some of her cute classmates. No, she wasn't the only one in pink.

Isaac so cute in his Italian wear

Abby as the charming Indian princess

I have some video footage of each of them that I will try to post later. But right now I have a very cranky baby squirming around in my lap - so I should probably put her down for a nap.

Batter Up!

2009-05-08T15:05:00.004-10:00

Well, I've finally got a little time to blog - really I should be doing dishes or laundry or homework, but that's not nearly as much fun.

So I'll start with baseball. Some of you may remember that Isaac and Abby played in the local league last year. {For those interested here are a few posts on last season....Batter up, Take me out to the ball game, and Keeping your eye on the ball} We signed up again this year. Isaac and Abby got put on the same team - coach pitch, so a little harder than T-ball was last year for Isaac. And Cameron got a call from a ward member who is running the league this year and was asked to be the assistant coach for the kids' team. A little surprising, since I'm not sure Cameron has played, or even had the desire to play, baseball in over 30 years. But he was willing, so he agreed. The teams got to choose their own names and our team became the Hollywood Hitters. The season is really short, only 6 weeks, but it's been lots of fun and the kids have really improved their playing. We invested in some equipment, like battering helmets and bats (and they already have gloves), since we figure we'll be playing again next year - Danielle's already excited to be old enough then.

OK, enough blabbing, here's some pictures and video for your viewing pleasure

{Nana, click here to see the videos, because they don't work in the email.}

Here's the team in the dugout. This was from their first game - they are much more attentive to the game and cheer for their teammates as they bat now.

I can't believe that I managed to get them all in the same shot, but I did. I don't even think I was trying to get Abby:)

Here's video from our most recent game - Wednesday. Abby and Isaac just happened to be next to each other in the line up, so that worked out nicely. Just a warning, you may want to turn the volume down - there' s not really anything to hear, but I'm yelling - ahem, cheering - so the kids can hear me and I'm right next to the mircophone. Abby made it all the way home, Isaac ended up getting out at first base, but he still had a pretty nice hit.

Someday I'll get around to....

2009-05-02T20:35:00.001-10:00

Well, my lack of blogging lately certainly hasn't been because of a lack of things to blog about. I'm teaming with stuff that I want to share, but I haven't had a whole lot of time to get it all on the computer and write it all up and...and...and... You get the picture. But this week I'm going to try to at least post some pics and videos so you can see what we've been up to. And I think I've finally figured out how I'm going to work my menu planning and I want to share that with you, too.

So, really I guess this is a teaser post. Here's all the fun things that you look forward to hearing about:)
Baseball - It's that time of year again. Abby and Isaac are playing and Cameron is coaching.
A Few First Steps - I'm not sure that I actually have this one on video yet, but I will soon. And really it's only a few, so don't get too excited. She's much too comfortable with crawling to worry about something as silly as walking.
May Day - Abby, Isaac, and Danielle were all in this year's Laie Elementary May Day performance. They were fabulous, of course. I have pictures and I think I have at least a little video of each one - we had some camera memory card issues.
Menu Planning - yet again, but I think I'm finally done....almost.

OK, that's enough teasing for now - so stayed tuned for the good stuff coming soon.

Sorry

2009-04-23T20:49:00.001-10:00

This week has been totally crazy with school starting up again for me and just life in general. The kids are playing baseball again this year and we're in full swing now - and Cameron's the asst. coach of the team (Abby and Isaac are on the same team this year). It's been fun, but it takes up 3 afternoons a week and Sat mornings. School should be fun, but challenging. I just need to remember that it only last for 6 weeks! Then I'll get a little vacation - and by little, I mean little!

Got to run. I'll post soon.

Happy Easter and Menu Planning

2009-04-14T11:54:00.003-10:00

Before I get started on my simplifying for today, I thought I would share a few pics of the kids in their Easter duds. We had a good Easter - the big bunny brought the older kids some treats and things, and thoughtfully left them at the foot of their beds so as to keep them occupied for a little longer before waking up mom and dad. Seriously - that is one thoughtful bunny. Church was good and dinner was yummy. Nothing too exciting, just hanging out with the family.

Here's Juliana in her dress

Danielle being too cute

Love this one of Abby and Isaac in front of the ocean

And we're doing a ward picture directory for the ward here (seems this job keeps following us a round) so we had someone take our picture. I think it turned out really great. I'm not sure why Isaac is so somber, but the rest of us are looking pretty happy.

OK -on to the menu planning...

Well, I have to say that I've run into a few snags working on my shopping lists this week. I did come up with enough meals (and repeats) to make 10 weeks of meals. But I've found as I've been planning them that I prefer cooking based on my mood. I thought it would be easier to just cook my assigned meal, but it doesn't seem to be working out that way. I don't know. It almost seems like I'm making it harder than it should be with so many choices/weeks, so I've decided that I need to simplify but yet allow for some flexibility.

As I've been thinking about it this week, I remembered that I took a class years ago, through UVSC's (UVU now) continuing education program. It was called House of Order. Amazingly I still have all the info from it. It was a fabulous class, and I think it is now taught at BYU's Education Week, too. Anyway, I pulled out the binder to look over how the teacher had suggested menu planning. From that and my experiences over the last week or so, this is what I've come up with as a plan:

I'm going to poll the family for their very favorite meals
I'll use those results to come up with a 4 week program - so a total of about 20-22 meals (you'll see why below)
The key is that I will leave one or two blank nights each week for any cravings, whims, etc. that I might have that week, or just to stick in those meals that we like every once in a while, but not so regularly.
Then I'll go back to my shopping lists.

So, I've got to do a little revamping here. For all of you that means you get a little more time to keep working on those shopping lists. But really, once you get that done - you're set! That wasn't too painful, was it?

Oh, and I just looked up the teacher of that class I took and it turns out that she has her own website now. Feel free to check it out. There is a little section about menu planning under 'Food'. I'm sure there's a lot more there, but I haven't looked around it all yet.

Let me know how you guys are all doing on your menus.

2009-04-07T08:09:00.004-10:00

OK, all you menu planners - how are we doing? I heard from a couple of you and it looks like we're making good progress. I hope the rest of you are working along with us, too. If you want to look at a few dinner ideas you can go here to Tonia's blog to see her list and here to Stephanie's blog to see her list. Thanks girls for posting them!

So, I'm off to a good start this week. I ended up adding a few more meals to my list (thanks to some suggestions from my Sis-in-laws comment a while back) and I actually came up with 7 weeks of meals! Oh and I don't think I'm done. There are some meals that I know we will want to eat more often than every other month, so I need to go back and revamp it a little - put the favorites in more frequently. So I'm hoping to end up with about 10 weeks of meals, but for now - this is what I've come up with {Notice that I haven't assigned days to the meals, that's so that I can rearrange them as needed for that week.}:

Week 1

Chicken Noodle Soup

Enchiladas

BBQ Pork sandwiches

Chicken Bombs

Pizza

Chicken and Asparagus Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

Week 2

Chile Verde Soup (Chicken)

Spaghetti

Sub Sandwiches

Crispy Onion Chicken

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

Nachos

Fish

Week 3

Santa Fe Chicken

Taco Soup

Tuna Melts

Stroganoff

Pizza

Spring Rolls

Pot Roast

Week 4 - this week's menu, since the Ham will be eaten on Easter

Hawaiian Haystacks

Hamburgers

Potato Cheese Soup

Crispy Onion Chicken

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

Nachos

Ham

Week 5

Chicken Salad Sandwiched

Tacos

Fish

Stir Fry

Pizza

Chicken Pot Pie

Pork Chops

Week 6

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Tater-Tot Casserole

Lasagna

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

Nachos

Crispy Onion Chicken

Week 7 - I just notice that this week as A LOT of rice, I think I need to fix that

Hawaiian Haystacks

Chili and Rice

Kalua Pork

Fish

Pizza

Chinese Noodles

Stew

So there you have it. Just getting this part done made my shopping so much easier. I got a whole weeks worth of food in less time and money than I usually need to go shopping. I was at the store for about 40 minutes (I had Abby and Juliana with me) and I believe I spent just under $150. I think that rocks for a week's food for 6 - especially in Hawaii.

So, on to your assignment for this week:

Finish making your week meal plans
If you feel the urge - share them with us
Collect all the recipes for your meals (or at least write out ALL the ingredients so the next step is easier)
Make COMPLETE shopping lists for your weekly menus. Even the little things that you know you always have on hand. If you make a complete shopping list you can just do a quick glance over your pantry and cupboards and cross off the things you already have on hand and then just buy the rest. Trust me - it's better this way, and it really cuts down on those last minute runs to get the one thing I forgot....

I'm not sure where we are page number-wise in the pamphlet, but that sounds like enough work for this week. I know that there are some great shopping list templates in there - I print a bunch off yesterday (and actually used one while shopping). I loved the way it helped me put foods in the same categories, so I didn't miss anything and have to walk back across the store for one thing (though my store is pretty small, so it's not that much of an inconvenience). However, while I was at the store, I wrote down what aisles had what items and the order of the aisles - well, the way that I shop them. That way I can streamline the process even more and hopefully be able to continue to cut down my shopping time, because frankly hanging out at Foodland is not my idea of fun - well, unless its the middle of August and incredible hot outside, then yes, hanging out at Foodland is great! And trust me, half the community will be there, too - it's the only big air conditioned place around for miles (and the next closest one is a grocery store, too).

OK I'm totally getting off track here. Menus, recipes, shopping lists. Get to work!

PS - Juliana says, "Baaaaah -bah!" Actually, that's the only thing she says. Everything is Bah-bah - mama, dada, baby, bottle, sissy, brother, monkey, button (as in belly). That's about everything that she actually can identify, but it's all Baaaaaah-bah! With a finger pointing at whatever it is she's talking about.

And the winner is......

2009-04-03T10:35:00.000-10:00

I took all your comments and numbered them in the order received (2 of you got 2 numbers for sharing my blog info) and used a random number generator to give me:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
9
Timestamp: 2009-04-03 20:35:05 UTC

And entry #9 belongs to Tonia! Congratulations! I will make your binder as soon as school is out next week (and I can enjoy my "vacation"). If you have any color/design preference you'd better email me.

As for the rest of you - keep working! And you can make you're own cute binder, too, maybe that will help motivate you.

I'm still waiting to see some meal list from you guys. SHARE! I happen to know that some of you came up with big lists, so at least list some favorites for us to see. Thanks, Jess for your ideas, I've added a couple more meals to my lists from your suggestions.

OK, so at least check in and let me know that you're keeping up with the plan. And since I haven't had a chance to make my week menus I will let you guys have until this Monday to get that step done. But then we're moving on, so you'd better keep up.

So your assignment for this week is to leave me a comment tell me how many meals you came up with (and SHARE some of your favorites if you want to) and to finish (because you did already start, right?) organizing those meals into weekly menus. Hop to it!

I haven't forgotten!

2009-04-01T16:47:00.000-10:00

I haven't forgotten about you all - I promise. Just have been really busy with some projects due last week and finishing up other work. The end of the semester is next week, so it's crunch time! But the good news is that I have 10 days off before school starts up again - and I didn't even know this until yesterday. And by then my kids will be back to school.....ah, heaven! I can't wait, I need a little break.

Back to my original thought - I will try to get my post up tonight with the winner of the recipe binder and the next step in menu planning! Speaking of which, I haven't seen a whole lot of dinner lists..... HOP TO IT LADIES! I wanna see 'em!

Charity Fundraiser with Usborne Books and More

2009-03-24T21:47:00.002-10:00

One of my very best friends, Tonia is having a Usborn Book open house and donating all the proceeds to a wonderful charity called Common Bonds. I know they are wonderful, because they did wonderful things for Tonia when she lost her baby 4 1/2 years ago. This group means a lot to her and so they mean a lot to me. Here's a link to her blog for more information:

Charity Fundraiser with Usborne Books and More

Even if you don't live in the area (she's in Utah) there's a link to her website where you can order and the proceeds still go to the charity. And the books are fabulous - so you can't go wrong. Hope you'll check it out.

2009-03-23T17:46:00.003-10:00

So.... How are you all doing on your meal list? I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at just how many meals I came up with - considering that I feel like we're always eating the same thing over and over. In fact I came up with 19 just by sitting down and writing. Then I went through my recipe binder and asked the kids what they liked. And of course in the process I thought of a few more that I didn't have down yet. Seriously - I ended up with 33! And that's not counting Chicken Nuggets and Hot Dogs, which I am putting on my list as "don't have time to cook today" alternates. I'm excited to be able to put together 5 weeks of menus, even if I don't find a couple more - we have pizza every Friday. So here's what I came up with, separated into categories of meats:

Chicken:

Santa Fe Chicken

Hawaiian Haystacks (which curiously actual Hawaiians have usually not heard of)

Blacken Chicken Alfredo

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Crispy Onion Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chicken Divan Casserole

Chile Verde Soup

Chicken Bombs

Chicken Salad Sandwiches (dinner tonight)

Chicken Pot Pie

Beef:

Tacos

Spaghetti

Stroganoff

Enchiladas

Nachos

Taco Soup

Hamburgers

Chili (and rice)

Pot Roast

Tater Tot Casserole

Stew

Pork:

Kalua Pork

Chinese Noodles

Ham (I just found a FABULOUS and SUPER EASY crock pot recipe for this)

Pork Chops

BBQ Pork Sandwiches

Other:

Breakfast Casserole

Tuna Melts

Pizza

Lasagna

Potato Cheese Soup

Sub (deli) Sandwiches

So I want to hear what you came up with. Leave it in the comments, if you want, or leave a link to your blog and put it there - whatever works for you. But I want to hear some ideas. I'm all for making 6 weeks of menus! So, please share.

This week's assignment:

Read the next step's directions, pages 8-16. Basically we're taking all those recipes and putting them into weekly menus. It mentions in the booklet to be conscious of varying your meat, but I would also caution you to look at your starches as well. We eat a lot of stuff with rice, and I don't like having it day after day after day, so I will need to vary rice, pasta, potatoes, etc, too. And there are certain meals that we will gladly eat more often than once a month (or longer), so I will need to take that into consideration as well.

Well, I think that's it for now. Remember that if you want to participate in the drawing for the recipe binder you need to leave a comment letting me know that you're playing along. Comments need to be done by this Saturday, at midnight (Hawaii time). And next week I'll announce the winner!

If anyone cares...

2009-03-23T02:24:00.000-10:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I was successful in my planning ahead endeavors. I have just completed my (HUGE) assignment that is due tomorrow (well, today) morning and it is only 2:30am! I'm so excited that I get to sleep tonight. And that I won't be a zombie tomorrow, because I have class all day, oh and did I mention that it's also the first day of Spring Break for the kids, so they will ALL be home ALL day!
And the best part is that now my next big assignment that is due on Friday is at least 80% done - I combined the 2 so I wouldn't have to do more work than necessary. How smart am I?

OK, off to bed with me!

Simply Monday.....on Thursday: What's for Dinner?

2009-03-18T22:22:00.000-10:00

What to eat for dinner? Seriously, I hate even thinking about this question. Are you with me? I know you are - I heard all those mental moans out there when you read that first line. I try to plan ahead. And actually I've been doing pretty good this last week or so, but there's still got to be a better way. And I think I may have stumbled upon it. I'm not even sure when or where it happened, but I found this:

Sounds perfect, don't you think. And it is. The best part is that ITS FREE!!!! OK, so you have to sign up for a free newsletter, but I figure I can always go unsubscribe later if want to. So far the one issue I've gotten was pretty good. So go here to sign up and get your free copy. As a quick side note - there are other little booklets of a similar nature that look good from that same website.

Now - I have to tell you why I liked this booklet so much. First of all - it's a downloadable PDF, so it's instant gratification. But I love that it goes through planning your menus step by step. I'm mean, seriously, we all know how do plan menus. I think my biggest problem is that it seems a bit overwhelming. But this booklet breaks it down into doable, logical, steps that makes it seem, well, easy. And I think I've figured out a way to also incorporate my frozen dinners from my Big Cook in too. But we'll get to that part down the road a ways.

For now I just need to make the time to do it. So, I was thinking that maybe some of you would want to join me. It would be fun to do it all together. We can motivate each other and share ideas along the way. So, if you want to join me, here's what we're going to work on this week:

First of course, you need to go here and sign up. They will email you the link to download the booklet. Download it! (You will need a PDF reader for this. Go here if you need one.)

Read over the booklet - or if you want, just the first 7 pages. That's what we're going to work on this week - just step one.

Decide where you're going to keep all this menu info. Personally I have a recipe binder (so do a few other gals in my family - I know - I made them) that I'm going to use. Most of my recipes are already in there, so I think that will work well for me.

Print off page 7, or just make your list on any piece of paper.

Make your list baby. I'm going to concentrate on just dinners for now. My older 3 kids eat breakfast and lunch at school (nice) so I really only have to plan those meals for the weekends - oh and Spring Break (the next 2 weeks! I have a love/hate relationship with year-round school).

That's it. Oh, but you only have until Monday to do it. Well, you can take longer than that, but that's when I'm planning on moving to the next step. I think that's doable. Make you're list on Sunday after church if you need to. And don't forget to include the whole family - you don't have to do this formally (though it might make a good FHE activity), but do ask everyone what their favorite meals are, etc.... And be prepared to share with the rest of us. I would love to hear what everyone else comes up with, too. Aim for about 28 meals (like the booklet says), but if you don't make it, no worries, that's what the sharing is for. We can remind you of meals you've forgotten, inspire you to try new ones, good stuff like that.

So who's with me? Let me know - leave me a comment so that I don't blabber on about this each week if no one is playing along. Invite you're friends, share the love. In fact - to get you just as excited about planning your menus as I am, I will host my very first give away. (I mean, come on, you deserve something just for reading this far.) I will make cute recipe/menu planning binder for one lucky winner. It will look something like this one:

Though, obviously I would put your name on it - not mine.

Here's what you need to do to enter

Leave a comment saying that you're going to play along and plan your menu with me.
If you want a second entry, post about this on your blog (facebook, whatever) with a link to get your readers back here (so they can enter if they want to also). If you choose to do this, make sure to tell me in a comment about that, too (the same one a different one, doesn't matter).

Got it? I'll give you until Saturday, March 28th at midnight (Hawaii time - you should all be sounds asleep by then anyway) to leave all your comments. Then I'll announce the winner (chosen at random) in Simply Monday on the 30th. And if I get enough comments that I think it warrants it, I'll make another binder and chose 2 winners.

So, you feeling lucky? Well, I can't wait to see who's going to play along. And I am seriously excited to do some menu planning. Even if the actual menu planning part is boring - at least this part is fun

PS - yes, I know that it says I posted this on Wednesday - but it's late and it's already Thursday for most of you. Besides I had the new picture already done and I didn't want to change it even though I ended up posting it a little early.

Sorry

2009-03-17T22:50:00.000-10:00

Don't worry, I'm not getting rid of Simply Monday, too. I just simply forgot this week. I've been busy working on some big assignments - trying to get them done earlier like I talked about last week. It actually seems to be working.....
I did actually have something planned for this week's Simply Monday, so I'll see if I can't find the time to post it in the next couple of days.

Until then:)

Weigh-In Wednesday?

2009-03-11T12:05:00.000-10:00

So my Weigh-In Wednesdays don't seem to be going like I'd hoped, and I just don't have the time to put into it right now. So in the spirit of Simply Monday - I'm giving it up. I'm simplifying. I'm enjoying Simply Monday much more - Weigh-in Wednesday just makes me feel guilty. Oh well. I am still going to try to work on eating better and exercising, but at least now I won't have to feel bad if it just doesn't happen during the week.

So here are my goals in the health department - I'll try to update you now and again, but no longer weekly.
1. I am working on my menu planning, trying to plan healthier meals, as well as just planning in general so that we're not just eating whatever I can come up with at the last minute.
2. I am still trying to find a good time to get moving everyday....I just can't seem to get myself up earlier in the morning and after that I get wrapped up in daily life. I have been trying to walk more when I can, so hopefully that will keep me going for now.
3. Have healthier things around to snack on. Too bad I don't stop eating when I'm stressed - then I'd be losing no problem, though not really the healthiest way to go.

Alright, back to homework I go. I'm doing pretty good with this planning ahead thing so far.

Simply Monday #3

2009-03-09T18:37:00.004-10:00

Well, I'm back - did you miss me? I missed all your lovely comments to keep me motivated. But it was a terribly busy week - and just a forewarning, the next couple of weeks will probably be just as busy. "They" shortened the length of the semesters here at BYU-Hawaii from 16 weeks to 12 weeks (this is the first short semester) and so we're at this weird, it's mid-semester, but there's only 5 weeks left, so that's end of the semester.... I'm just not feeling it at the moment, but it's all good. Hopefully I can plan ahead a little more.... wait - now I'm just getting ahead of myself! We'll come back to that thought in a minute (or 2 or 3).

First up - update on the microwave area. I've had 2 week to work on it, and I think it's actually worse right now. See for yourself.

I just want you to know that I did nothing to this area before the pic, obviously, or I would have moved that laundry basket full of - DIRTY DISHES! Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone! OK, so I really don't care that you all know. I was trying to clean up in a hurry last week (or was it the week before....) and I happened to have an empty laundry basket around (weird, I know) and so I used that to clear the clutter and just haven't managed to get around to finishing them off. I take things out of it as I need them. Maybe I should just get rid of all of it..... like the whole laundry thing. There's a thought. But I do want to point out that I finally took the Christmas cards down off the wall - OK, so I did that just today, but still, it's done.

Here is what I DID get done this week. I got the kids room totally clean - I fixed the dresser rails (we've had the parts for a while) so the kids can actually open and close them - nice. And I did weed out a little more laundry. Their room is so hard to take a picture of but I think you get the idea - the fact that you can see the floor is enough to make me shout for joy.

Behind the door there along the wall is a plastic shelf that holds the toys and the dresser that is now functional. They take up all the room from the door to the wall.

If you turn immediately left in the door this is what you see. And then just to the left of the big wheel is the cupboard under the stairs. Not too bad for a Monday night - and they've been inside most of the day since it's been cold (ok, like 60 degrees, but that's cold when you live in paradise) and rainy.

As for my future endeavours, well this week I'm hoping to work on organizing my school work. I'm always saving it for the last minute. And while I work really well under pressure, I'm just getting too old, and have too many responsibilities during the day-time to pull all-nighters. I did one last week and it just about killed me. Luckily Cameron took pity on me and let me crash right after I turned my assignment (and forced myself to stay at least in a delirious stupor during class - you should see my notes!) and let me sleep for a good 5 hours. He woke me up so that I would be able to get back to sleep that night, because I had to wake up the next morning for jogging class to make up the 5k I missed. OK, totally getting off track here. I'm going to try to work on the big projects (I have at least 3 more I can think of...) as I go so that I don't have to go through that again. Though I'll probably still have to stay up late the night before it's due, but I can handle that. Along those organizing lines - Cameron and I just upgraded our cell phones. We got a fabulous deal and both chose to get a PDA-type dealio. I'm sure I'll never use all the features on it, and it will take a little adjusting to get used to it in my pocket, but I think it will really help me to keep everything in one place. And the ones that we are getting run off a windows OS so it's easy to sync up with the computer. I'm excited. Though we have to be patient, it will be a couple of weeks until they get in.

Alright, I should go - oh wait, one last pic. Last week (or was it the week before?) Abby and I made soft pretzels for a school project she had to do on her ancestors. It was fun, though not as much as when the family is all together and grandpa does all the work! BUT I decided to skip the controversial lye step - my bro-in-law should appreciate this. The reasons are 3 fold: 1. I've always thought it was a little weird, and dangerous, to be dipping food in a caustic substance, no matter how diluted (but them I do drink Coke occasionally....hm), 2. I really didn't want to have to do this laborious step, I had enough on my plate for that day, and 3. my hardware store doesn't carry lye, so.... Well, I did a little research online and found that most pretzel recipes now-a-days (we were working off the old family recipe here) call for a bath in boiling water or baking soda and water - and some didn't even do the boiling part - so that's what I chose. And it worked great, as you can see. I think they look exactly like my dad's and I got to skip the whole bees wax on the pan thing - which I didn't really want to get into anyway (see reason #2 above).

(Sorry, I forgot to take the pic before I packed them all up.) I had some rising issues - mostly me being impatient and not wanting to have to roll out all the pretzels myself and then bake them in the middle of the night. But they still tasted so good. Made me wish I had a gallon of good apple cider to go with them. And though we rolled as many as we needed for Abby's class (I think we made 32 all together), we still had a little less than half the dough left, so I stuck it in the fridge and a couple days later used it for pizza dough. It was yummy that way, too.

OK, now I have to get the kiddos to bed and then re-read this to make sure it sounds alright and that I didn't use any horrible grammar, spell check it, you know the drill.....

Simply Monday

2009-03-02T22:39:00.001-10:00

This week's episode of Simply Monday will not be appearing due to a rather large and imporant assignment that is due on Wednesday. We do however fully expect this feature to be back up and running by next Monday, March 9th, so please tune in then - same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Sorry for any inconvenience, or disappointment, this may have caused.

Thank You

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

2009-02-28T12:54:00.003-10:00

Maybe she'll grow up to be a wizard? What do you think?

Some of you may have noticed in my Simply Monday post that there was a playpen peeking out of the back of the closet. No - that's not just where it's stored. That's where it's used - if you look closely you can see Juliana's actually in there, sleeping (and no, that blanket isn't actually ON her face, she just really likes to snuggle). The closet in the kids room opens up to a small area that is under the stairs up to the loft. It used to be the kids' "clubhouse" where all their toys lived, but last month I decided I wanted to reclaim my side of the 'master' bedroom and move Juliana into the kid's room. However, there was no space....hm, you know, it looks like the playpen might just fit under these stairs.... oh look, it does! With a little space left for storage, too. It's actually quite perfect. So perfect in fact, that although I have a baby monitor, sometimes Abby wakes up before I do when Juliana's fussy, and she gets her out and brings her to me. OK, more like most of the time. Let's face it - she gets more sleep, so she doesn't sleep through as much noise as I can! And it's really only on Sat and Sun mornings that it happens and the occasional middle of the night. But it's so nice - it's almost as good as breakfast in bed. Well, for Juliana it is.
But her little cupboard is just perfect. And no, there's no spider on her socks under the bed.

Oh, one last thing. I've been wanting to share this for a while. We'll call it my craftiness for the month of January, since that's when I made it - but I couldn't show it off until I gave it to the person I made it for. It was a baby gift for a friend of mine who just a beautiful little girl, but I know that she reads my blog every now and then, so I didn't want to post it. But I finally gave it to her today, so here it is. I think she just turned out adorable and all my kids LOVE her. They all want one of their very own. Except, I might make Isaac's a boy....

Yes, she's a sock monkey - a real bona fide sock monkey. Made her myself, from a pair of socks. Too cute, huh? (She has cute eyelashes, too, but you can't see them in this pic.) And she was pretty simple to make. In fact she was so simple to make that I'm considering making a tutorial for anyone else who wants to make one. But first I have to get myself another pair of socks. This time I think I'm going to use a fun pair.... I don't know, we'll see. But until then, here's the link for the directions that I found. When you first read through them, they seem a little confusing, but trust me, it's pretty easy, you can figure it out....or you can wait for my tutorial.

PS - I took Cameron to see Twilight tonight (it was playing on campus for FREE) because he hadn't seen it yet (but he did read the books). I don't think I liked it as much this time. Maybe it was because last time it was a girls' night out. And while I was more than happy to be with hubby this time, we were also in a room with A LOT of single college coeds, just not the same groove- ya know. They laughed, they clapped, which I didn't mind, but..... I don't know. I still enjoyed it though. Well, I guess it could have also been the big room, small screen, not so great light situation that just didn't do it for me.

Week #1

2009-02-26T08:41:00.000-10:00

Sorry, my Wednesday got away from me. But you know none of you probably would have read it until to day anyway!
So I didn't do great, but I didn't do horribly either - here's the run down

Exercise: I somehow slept through my alarm and missed the last day of my jogging class -I even went to bed early! So now I have to make up that run next week. At least she's letting me make it up - that's 100 points! But in the 6 times that I've taken the class I've never missed the 5K (we run it twice a class), so she took pity on me and said I could run the first 5K with her new class on March 5th. I WILL be there.
Other than that - I had my last dance and movement class on Friday (2 hours), I had the same class, switched to PE now, but still moving us around, on Monday (2 hours), Tuesday I ran for 20 minutes before picking up Danielle and then walked home with her for about 15 minutes - that was a very successful day. Wednesday I had to run an errand right after picking up Danielle, so I planned to get up early and run, but Cameron got sick in the middle of the night, so I didn't make myself get up (yes, he seems to be doing better now - still not feeling great though). So there you have it. Some successes, some not so much, but over all I think I did pretty good.

Food: I've been busy with homework this week, so I haven't put a lot of effort into dinner planning, but I've been eating more sensibly for breakfast and lunch. I'm still craving chocolate like a mad woman, but I've figured out that if I put a piece of gum in my mouth it will at least put it off for a while. Hard to eat chocolate and chew gum at the same time.

Water: I just don't drink that much, but I know that I should be drinking a TON. Could be because there aren't usually clean cups around! Well, and I just don't care for plain water. Actually, the water here is usually really good, especially cold, but I don't know what they did, its started tasting different lately. But thanks to my mom, I have a cupboard full of Crystal Light, so I will try to incorporate that into my water intake since I'm not doing so hot with just water alone.

Weight: I lost 2 lbs this week. Not what I was aiming for, but better than nothing. And since I didn't meet all my exercise goals, this is no surprise.

Goals for this week:
Exercise: 4 out of the 7 days. Thurs (running), Mon (PE class), and twice on Tues (running and hula) is was it looks like for now...
Food: 1. Eat healthier snacks (and hopefully ditching the chocolate craving). I purchased healthier snack options this week, so that will be good. 2. Focus on eating a bigger lunch and a smaller dinner. Only because I usually don't eat dinner until about 8:30pm, so I can eat in peace ,and I really don't like eating so much so late. 3. Plan dinners for at least 4 nights this week so that we're all eating healthier.
Water: I'm going to make sure that I have Crystal Light in the fridge at all times for when I don't feel like water. AND I will try to get all the cups clean do that I can have one to use when the urge does hit me.
Weight: I'm going to go for 4 lbs again this week.

Simply Monday:

2009-02-23T10:33:00.004-10:00

Well, I have to say that I didn't actually get my organizing task for last week completely done. Shame on me! But I had great plans to do it - twice - it just didn't happen. However, I have made some progress in the laundry area and I have decided that I AM for sure going to go through with it. And I think I've figured out a good way to do it. Instead of just getting rid of everything at once, we're going to whittle it down little by little. Abby and I did some of this today. I went through and took out clothes that were stained, too small, never worn, etc... Abby went through her own clothes and got rid of the things she didn't want any more. Now we're not down to what I want to get to eventually, but we made some real progress today. And I figure if I do this every time I do the laundry for the next couple of weeks I should be about there.
Now if I could just figure out where to put the hamper so that it's centrally located...

Anyhoo - here's a picture of the closet in question after our first going through. (Sorry, I didn't take a before pic, but there are definitely less clothes. Trust me.) That's Sunday clothes for all 4 kids, and shirts for the older 3. (Everything else is in their dresser.)

Since I'm still working on last week's task, I'm only going to add something small for this week. I don't want to get too crazy here. And besides, this project is sort of half-way done, too.

Before: This is a picture of our dining/kitchen area. The table and chairs are over to the right of the picture (you can kind of see the table leg there). It is basically the transition between our living area and the kitchen area. As you can see it houses the microwave and the chest freezer. Both vitally important to the happiness of our household. However, this area was just not working for me for a multitude of reasons: the microwave is on a TV tray, the top of the freezer is a dumping ground of anything I don't know where to put at the moment, just as the floor in front of it does for the bigger, bulkier things and among other things I won't bore you with, it's white, on white, on white. BLAH and seriously non-functional. And we're just not even going to mention why there is a bike there...

So I started working on it. I looked around for a microwave cart - I even searched in Utah over Christmas break (apparently they don't use microwaves so much in Sweden, because Ikea does not carry such a thing). But it was fruitless. I couldn't find what I was picturing would work. Then one day I decided to visit Kmart - I had not yet gone to one here on the island. Can I just tell you - I LOVE IT! I won't go into it all now, but I found a great "cart" for my microwave, with storage, which was the most important factor - storage with a door, even better. And I added my ribbon, bulletin board thingy to the wall for color and to, you know, to hold things. But as you can see, it's still a work in progress. I still have many things I need to find a home for. So that's my other job this week.

So there's the before and during pics and hopefully I'll have the after pic to show you next week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh and in case you were wondering, those shelf doors flip up and slide back. And there is glass in the panels, but I didn't want to have to keep things neat in there for it to look good, so I ModgePodged some scrapbooking paper onto the inside of the glass. I think it came out spectacular! (And, yes, those are still our Christmas cards hanging up on the wall, I should really take those down....)

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie

2009-02-20T18:31:00.003-10:00

Recipe is up on my recipe blog. Just thought you all might want to know!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2009-02-19T21:38:00.006-10:00

Today is the big "one" for Juliana. Hard to believe that she's already that old. We didn't do anything too crazy - stayed home, opened a couple of presents, and ate cupcakes. Sounds thrilling doesn't it? Here's a pic of her eating her birthday cupcake (in her new highchair - isn't it cute?):

I was going to post a little phote montage of the past year, but it seems that most of my pictures are not on my computer and I'm too lazy to go find the external harddrive right now (I'm in bed already, aren't laptops great?). So I will try to do that over the next couple of days. But here's a couple of videos of the festivities for you to enjoy for now.

Here she is opening one of her presents - she starts dancing as soon as she sees it. She remembered playing with it at the store. LOVE her little dance!

The singing of Happy Birthday - I know it's dark, but look closely at how excited she is - it's too cute. Oh, and Danielle wouldn't eat her dinner so she couldn't have a cupcake - just a little explaination so you can understand why Cameron says he has some veggies for her to eat. It's pretty funny actually.

And just because she's so adorable and I cannot resist sharing - 9 seconds of peek-a-boo

Juliana really is such a cutey and she's just the sweetest little baby. We really enjoy having her around and we're so glad that we could celebrate her birthday today.

Weigh-In Wednesday

2009-02-18T20:19:00.000-10:00

OK, so I didn't get around to it last week, but here it is for this week!

Exercise: This is the last week of my jogging class, in fact tomorrow morning is the last time we meet, so I'm going to have to figure out what I'm going to do from now on. My sister suggested that I jog before I pick up Danielle from preschool and then walk home with her. That is a most excellent idea, and I think that I will try that - at least until it gets too hot to run at 11am. I should be able to do it for a couple more months. And that will get me moving 3 days a week (the other 2 I have class, so Cameron picks her up). Mondays I have my PE Methods class which usually involves dancing, or other PE related moving around, so that's a 4th day - I don't actually get my heart rate up, but I'm exhausted and sweaty by the end of the 2 hour class, so I think that should count. Plus I have hula on Tuesday nights for an hour, and that does get my heart rate up and is a GREAT leg/butt work out. So as long as I get my butt in gear and actually run when I'm supposed to I should be golden. I'll let you know how it goes.

Food: I've actually been trying to be a lot better about what we eat around here. I'm trying to incorporate more veggies into our meals and eating more fresh foods. The reasons behind this are 3-fold. The first is obvious, Me. I've been too comfortably sitting at 165 lbs, but I'd like to keep losing weight, plus I'm not going to be nursing for too much longer, so that a lot of extra calories a day that I'm used to consuming. Reason #2, Juliana is starting to eat "real" food (as opposed to that fake stuff she's been eating thus far, right?) and I'm trying to make sure that she's getting everything she needs. Again, especially since I won't be nursing her for too much longer. And finally -someone (who will go unnamed) recently found out that their cholesteral and blood pressure are a little too high, so we're trying to do what we can to remedy that before medication is involved.

No weight loss this week, since I'm reseting the counter and starting from today. My current weight (according to my crappy bathroom scale) is 168 lbs.

Goals for next week:
Exercise - to run all of my 5K tomorrow without stopping, jog on my own on Tues and Wed of next week, plus my Mon class (no hula next week) - so that's 4 exercise sessions before my next weigh-in.
Food - I've been craving chocolate like CRAZY lately, so I'm going to work to cut that out this week and find something healthier to snack on (and look it up on the internet to find out what my body needs to stop this craving).
Water - DRINK MORE, 'nugh said.
Weight loss - If I stick to it, I think I can lose at least 4 pounds. I'm not starting off cold turkey, I have been exercising for the last 5 weeks, so I think that's reasonable.

Simply Monday

2009-02-16T22:47:00.001-10:00

For my organizing lately I've been mostly concentrating on the house. I've been working hard to get things sorted and put away. If something doesn't have a "home" then I have to either find one for it or get rid of it.
As for the simplify part - Cameron and I have felt for quite some time that we just have too much stuff. It's not just the junk that you collect and can't seem to ever get rid of, it really is stuff. But we don't NEED this much stuff; we don't need it cluttering up the house, cluttering up our lives, cluttering up our minds. In fact I was just thinking yesterday that it was time to simply my children's clothing (no, I'm not skipping over me, I really don't have that much, I swear, Cameron has more stuff in the closet than I do). They just have WAY too much. And while it's nice that they still have clean clothes even when I don't get around to doing the laundry for 2 weeks, JUST THINK OF HOW MUCH LESS LAUNDRY I WOULD HAVE IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE SO MANY CLOTHES! Especially since I have to haul it to a common laundry - handy to be able to do all 8-12 loads (depending on the week....and the last time I did it) all at the same time, it only takes an hour and a half from start to finish (if I remember to go put it in the dryers right when it's done washing) but do I really need to be hauling that much laundry as often as I do. And then I have mountains of laundry to put away - which rarely happens. So here's what I'm thinking. I go through and they keep 10 days worth of clothes - that way I don't have to do the laundry on the same day each week and they don't have to wear the same 5 outfits to school every week. OK, maybe 10 days, but then add in 2 church outfits. So enough clothing for 12 days (and a few pairs of extra undies - we still have accidents every now and again). I mean really, over Christams break the kids each had 8 shirts (plus 3-4 long sleeved ones to wear under the short sleeves) and 2-3 pairs of pants. And they didn't need ANYTHING else. In fact, I think there were things that they didn't even wear. Ultimately my goal here is to centralize the dirty clothes hamper and just do a load when it gets full.
So - what do you all think - should I go for it? Maybe I'll just take all the extra clothes upstairs until I'm sure that I can do it. Or would that just be too convenient for it to really work?

Aside from my laundry musings, we really did get some stuff done today. I worked a little more on getting the loft put together. I really want there to be a nice area for the kids to do homework and read. It's getting there slowly. Cameron and I also worked on cleaning out the car - Cameron cleaned all the mats last week, so this week we did the floors in the car. It was quite the cleaning job. He was actually spraying water IN the car to rinse off the floor. And then he vacuumed it out with the shop vac of course. The floor looks great, but I have a feeling it's not going to be dry tomorrow, so we'll have to be careful on the way to school.

And I didn't make it into town today - the pharmacy that I needed to stop at wasn't open because it's a holiday - come on! So I'll go tomorrow. That will be better anyway - I won't have to take the kids. As London Tipton says, "Yeah for me!" (If you don't know who London is, you obviously don't watch enough Disney Channel!)

PS - I added a poll to the side bar, so vote there or leave a comment!

Happy {Belated} Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T22:34:00.000-10:00

We don't really do much to celebrate Valentine's Day at our house. Neither Cameron or I have really cared for the holiday, so we just don't do it. People boo at us all the time, but oh well, boo all you want - it won't make any difference. Seriously, there are only 2 things that I do every year for Valentine's day - the first is that my kids all get new shirts to wear for the occasion, of course I totally forgot to take a picture this year, we were running late for school Friday, which is when they were wearing them. The second is valentines for school. Like everything else here in Hawaii, people tend to go a little overboard with the valentines, so I decided to do something fun with the kids this year. And I think it turned out pretty cute:

Here's what they were really supposed to look like (and here's the link to the instructions, if anyone wants it)

- but I made up my own ghetto version, because I wanted to use less supplies, what I already had on-hand, and take less time to finish them. And I think it worked. The kids just rip them open and gobble them down anyway, right?

For dinner we had Chicken Pot Pie - the recipe of which I will put up on my recipe blog - No, it's not actually there yet....but I will get it there this week - I promise!

It's very yummy, and decently easy. Could definitely be cooked ahead and frozen for later, but I haven't yet been motivated enough to do that. Though....I do have some friends that want to do a Big Cook soon, so maybe I'll put this on my list. Even the kids will eat it - well most of them, but then Abby doesn't like anything, so she doesn't really get a vote anymore.

I thought briefly about adding some red food coloring to make the insides pink, but then decided not to since Cameron wasn't too hip on the green Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup I made for St. Patrick's day one year. The kids would have thought it was cool though.

Well, that's about it for me. I'm excited to post my first Simply Monday tomorrow, though it will probably be later in the day, so most of you won't see it until Tuesday - sorry. I'm planning to drive into town (Honolulu) tomorrow for some things -and I'm pretty excited, I haven't been to town in over a month because I just send my Wal-mart and Sam's list with Cameron when he goes to his doctor's appointment there - it seems silly to waste gas when he's already going. But have some other errand taking me down that way, and it's a holiday so I don't have school. On the minus side, that means the kids don't have school either, so they will probably be going with me, but it will be fun.

Alright, off to bed with me. But I did want to leave you with a quote my Auntie put on her blog the other day that I just fell in love with. I'm serious - I think I've going to embroiderer and frame it. OK, well, maybe just print it off really nice and tape it to the wall. It reminds me of that country song "Bring on the Rain" - I think that's what it's called, I know Tim McGraw sang back-up....ok, hold on I have to look it up now. OK, it's Jo Dee Massina and here's the video to boot (I love that I know how to put videos in now).

And after all that - here's the quote.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Goals and Aspirations for the (ahem) New Year

2009-02-11T10:14:00.004-10:00

OK, so it's already the middle of February, but I still thought I'd share. There's nothing too particularly exciting, and it's a short list, but I'm looking forward to working on them. To help me keep on track I'm going to try making some new blog features here....read on to find out.

1. Organize and Simplify: Doesn't that sound so easy? Really, this is the one that I want the most, will take the most work, but will also have the greatest reward. But it is a complicated goal. I want it all organized, the house, life, school, and whatever else I can think of. I think that this is the ultimate goal for everyone when you come right down to it. Since this alone can be a totally overwhelming task, I'm trying to break it down into smaller bits. If I were really organized I'd assign different bits to each month and concentrate on that area only during that month and then build on it. That was the original idea, which is why it's taken me so long to get to this post. And since I haven't done that part yet, I've just decided to move forward anyway. So, I'm still going to concentrate on just a bit here and there, but not on a schedule, just as I see the need I guess. So each week I'm going to come up with something to concentrate on for the week and then revisit it for the next week and see if I need to work on it more or if it's time to move on. To do this I'm going to try (I'm not promising anything here) instigating what I will call Simply Monday. Each Monday I will talk about what I have and have not done from last week and what I will work on this week. I've already got some things in the works for Monday, but I'm going to save them, so you'll just have to tune in then.

2. Keep up the Good Work: I've been pretty good about exercising so far this year, but that's only because I've been taking my jogging class again. When it ends in a couple of week I'm not really so sure what I've going to do. I want to keep exercising, keep the momentum going, but I know from past experience that I have a had time doing that without a grade to motivate me. And I have considered taking the class again for the second half of the semester, but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. So along the same lines as Simply Monday, I am going to try out something I've seen on other blogs called "Weigh-In Wednesday" and my totally cute friend Elise does something similar on her own. But it will help to keep me accountable for my successes and failures in this area. So each Wednesday I will hopefully (again - I'm not promising anything here) report of my efforts for the last week and what I want to change up or add for the coming week. Am I going to start today you ask? Well, we'll see if I get to it. It always takes more time to post than I think it's going to.

3. Create: I've really got so much stuff going on that I don't get a chance to exercise my creativity as much as I'd like. I miss "having" to scrapbook each month for my monthly hostess club with Close to My Heart. It was the perfect excuse to scrap. And while I haven't done much scrapping here in Hawaii, I would love to. And I have been doing other crafty things. Here and there. But I would like it to be more regular. Even monthly would be great right now. So I will try to do something monthly and share it with all of you. But now my problem is, should it be Monthly Masterpiece or Crafty Concoction? While monthly masterpiece sounds better, I'm more of a "concoction" type of gal. Hmmm, I'll have to think about it. Or maybe I'll come up with something completely different - or maybe you will! If you do, tell me, tell me, please.

Really that's pretty much it - everything that I want to work on, to better in my life, pretty much fits into one of these 3 catagories, they are just smaller details of the bigger picture. So as I want to focus on them specifically I will choose those for my weekly posts.
And yes, this post to WAY more time than I thought it would. Seriously - almost an hour. Granted there is a baby that has been constantly crawling in and out of my lap the whole time, but still. Well, I better get a move on, I haven't even had breakfast yet and it's almost time for lunch - Yikes!

Hauli Hula Girl and Our Pet Cat....

2009-02-06T08:03:00.006-10:00

Well, I got on this morning to get a little more homework done before class, but somehow (I can't imagine how) I've gotten sidetracked by blogs - yet again. I love being able to read about all my friends, and lots of people that I don't actually know, but it does eat up a big chunk of time. It's not so bad using Google Reader since I don't have to click through all the blogs I like to peruse, but it still takes time.

Anyhoo - I'm gotten sidetracked again:) I thought while I had a minute I would try to do some double duty and post on a couple of my topics - finally!

First, let me tell you about Our Pet Cat......erpillars. (You knew that was coming, right?) There's a couple time a year when there are monarch caterpillars in abundance on the milkweed plants in the community. Well, that time was just a couple of weeks ago. The kids pass a huge milkweed plant on the way home for school and one day they decided to bring a little friend home with them. I thought it would be fun to set up a little home for him (or her) and so we set about doing it. First we had to head over to a friends house to get some milkweed leaves for him to eat - that is the ONLY thing that they eat. And of course, while we were there we spotted many more caterpillars and somehow we ended up with 3 more, one for each of the children (don't ask my why Juliana needed her own, but she did). So here they are in their caterpillar form:

This is Abby's, she named it Blossom

This is Isaac's, it's name is BYU.

These are Danielle's and Juliana's. The one at the top is Danielle's, Flower, and the other is Happy, Juliana's.

We fed them (taking MANY trips to the milkweed plant) and cleaned out their little home. And when they started getting fat and juicy we went and bought some screen to put across the top of the container. And looky what happened:

The chrysalises are so beautiful. They are a green apple color with a delicate black and gold stripe around the top and little gold spots on the bottom. Then after about 10-14 days the green turns really dark and gets translucent and out pops a monarch butterfly!

Yes, we did end up with more than the original 4 caterpillars, but we had a little bout of some parasite that killed a few off. But we did end up with 5 chrysalises and 4 of those actually hatched butterflies. The whole process was really fun to watch and the kids got really excited about letting the butterflies go. Abby even took them to school for a project last week. All in all, it was great, but I'm glad that we're done. Maybe we'll do it again next year.....

And now onto the Hauli Hula Girl - me, of course! For those of you that don't speak Pigeon (or even know what it is) hauli is a Hawaiian slang term for a white person. Sometimes used in a not so nice way, but I personally haven't come across it meant that way too many times. But I am definitely the white girl in our hula halau. There are a couple of other fairer skinned gals, but they both grew up here, so they don't really count as hauli.

So back in October a friend of mine convinced me to start coming to her hula group (halau) with her. It didn't take much convincing, I've wanted to learn hula since we moved here. So I started going each week. There was a hula festival at the Polynesian Cultural Center back in January and our halau danced in it. We danced 3 songs - none of which I knew until a week before the festival. We had been learning other songs and then at the last minute it was decided that we would dance something else. The women who have been dancing with this halau for years of course already knew these numbers, but I had to learn them - quickly. We practiced a lot the week before the festival, so it wasn't so bad. Here's the last number that we did (the ending is a little messed up because we were dancing to live musicians and they slowed it WAY down). I think I did pretty good....and I got to dance on the stage at the PCC, so that was really fun, too. Oh, in case you can't tell, I'm the tall white girl in the middle of the back row:)

OK, that's it for me. I have a paper that is due in an hour, so I'd better hop to it.

Someday....

2009-02-04T21:20:00.002-10:00

I had every intention of blogging today. Like real stuff, not just about vacation. But it didn't happen. There's a lot of things I intended to have happen today that didn't, but that's a whole 'nother story. (That phrase really doesn't translate into writing very well, does it?)

So instead I will add to the list of topics to (hopefully) soon be discussed:
The big 41
Hauli Hula Girl
Got Milk?
That girl's got some moves

Mostly I just think it's fun to peak your interest and then leave you hanging! Well, that is fun, but really, I do plan on blogging.....someday.

Just for Fun

2009-01-26T21:16:00.001-10:00

I'm too lazy today to write more about out trip. I don't know why - it's not a hard thing to do, I just pull up the pics from that day and then write a little. Oh, maybe I'll do some of that later.... now that I've convinced myself that it's not that hard:)

In the meantime, I thought this would be fun. I've seen it on a couple of blogs lately, so when my sister posted her version, I thought I would join in.

What Have You Done? To participate, just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold (I made mine colored) all of the things you have done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii - ummmmm, I live there:)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland - it seems like we were just there.
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France - no but I saw it in Washington DC once, does that count?
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - I guess that all depends on just how far back my "ancestors" are....
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight - it was actually early in the morning...and it was for my jogging class. Somehow I don't think that quite counts.
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - no, but I REALLY want to...someday
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible - I never have cover to cover, so I'm sure there's something in there I've not read yet
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - I helped Marie Osmond once when I worked at ZCMI, and Charles Berkley asked me (well, signaled to me) to play in the high rollers room with him when Cameron and I were in the Las Vegas...no, I didn't go.
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Pacific Ocean - ahhhh, duh.
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone - there are people out there that still don't?!?
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument
102. Graduated from college - not yet, but I'm almost there! WooHoo!

Wow! I've done a lot more stuff than I thought. I'm feeling kind of cool right now.

Well, it's already taken me 2 days to get this posted, so I'm not thinking I will post more of the trip tonight! AND there are so many other things that I keep meaning to post about, but I don't seem to get to it. So here are some upcoming topics to tickle you tastebuds and hopefully remind me to tell you about them!

Too cute not to share
The barber's at it again
Caterpillar hotel
New Years goals and aspirations
Before and After (I'm still working on this one)

And just as a reminder - Cameron's bday is this Friday, so don't forget to send along your HUGE birthday checks. You can just go ahead and write them out directly to me. OK, totally joking - about the money part, it really is his birthday on Friday.

Day 3 & 4: Church and Mice

2009-01-21T16:15:00.005-10:00

Well, I'd like to say that the reason I haven't been posting more of our Christmas adventure is that I've been busy doing things around the house. Not that that's totally untrue, but I definitely haven't been getting as much done as I'd like to. I only have about 5 things on my To-do list, but I've only been able to cross off 2 and those took longer than they should have. But I will tell you that a large piece of things not getting done around here is this game:

We've played other online games, but we just started this one and it's really fun. Unfortunately it's not terribly popular (yet) and there's no computer 'bots' to play against, so you have to have 3 real, live people to play and no one can quit or the game's over. Sooooooooo check it out - come play with us! Go to this website {Days of Wonder} and sign up to be a new player. It's free to be a guest, that basically means that you can't start your own games, you have to join someone else's game. And you can change you're username to something more interesting than 'guest######' after you sign up. I'm serious. We could all play together, it would be fun. We're always looking for more players. There's other games on the website you can play, too.

OK, now onto the next installment of Christmas Vacation 2008 (only because I really should be doing dishes and I don't want to).

So we left off with Universal Studios on Saturday. Sunday we went to church with Cameron's brother's family and then drove down to Escondido to check into our condo for the week. We met Cameron's parents there - he talked them into coming down from Utah to spend the week with us and watching Juliana a couple of days for us. This was so nice - because while Juliana was a great sport on the days that she was with us, it was much easier to do the parent/child shuffle without her in the mix.

So Monday we headed off to day one of Disneyland/California Adventure and Juliana stayed behind with a grandma that was SO happy to finally meet her. We ended up spending the entire day at California Adventure until we went over for the Christmas Main Street Parade in the evening. We really enjoy the rides at CA and there was a new Toy Story ride that was quickly a favorite among us all - it was a 3D shoot-em-up carnival games things. Tons of fun.

The day was still a little chilly, but there was just enough rain to keep the crowds away, but not enough to worry about really getting wet. It was just perfect. There were even a few rides that we could just stay on as many times as we wanted. I think the longest we waited all day was about 5 mins. Seriously. It was pretty much walk right on for everything.

Here's the kids in their Toy Story 3D glasses. Cameron and I decided that you can easily measure a person intelligence level by when they put their glasses on (you still have quite a bit of line to go between the glasses and the ride start). I would say more than 1/2 of the adults there would put them on as soon as they pick them up and then walk around with them on through the rest of the line. Come on people - the real world is already in 3D. You don't need the glasses until you're actually on the ride. Well - If they were a little more fashionable I guess I could see it.

The kids being silly on the parking tram - I think we were headed to the car for lunch. I never did quite catch Danielle's original face, I made her do it over and over for the camera - it's never the same.

This time we not only saw Mickey and Minnie, but we got to get a picture and a hug from both of them. Aren't they so cute in their winter/holiday garb?

It was a really fun day, but exhausting. We decided on the way back to the condo that we were going to take a break the next day, sleep in and do some grocery shopping. Of course, because Tuesday was the MOST beautiful day of the whole week.

Are You Special?

2009-01-18T21:29:00.005-10:00

A few of you may be wondering why you haven't received our Christmas card this year. Well, to be honest, we could only send out a few this year, so only the really special people got them.

Oh, you didn't get one? Hmmmm, guess you know where you stand now!

OK, so of course I'm totally joking. I didn't exactly get around to sending out our cards this year - I say that like I even got around to ordering them, which of course I didn't. And then Christmas came and went and I thought "well, we'll just send out New Year's cards this year". Like that was going to happen! Anyhoo - I figure if you're reading this most of you are probably pretty up to speed on what's going on in our lives anyway, so that's lets me off the hook of having to write that boring old family letter. OK, so maybe they are fun to read, but I really hate writing them. But I will indulge you and give you a quick run down of the last year.

Abigail - Had a fabulous beach party when she turned 7, started the second grade, lost her 2 front teeth and then a few more, loves to read and play with Polly Pockets. She's a fabulous help when Juliana needs a little entertaining - oh, and her hair is finally down to her waist, it's taken her about 4 years to get it there. She's very excited to be getting baptized this year, hopefully in the ocean - we need to work on her actually getting into the ocean.

Isaac - Turned 6 on Christmas Eve, he is a budding artist, as well as an inventor of many things Lego, doing a rerun of Kindergarden this year at his parents' request - we would much rather he have a head start now than feel like he's always trying to keep up some time down the road - he loves being the older kid that knows all the rules. He's just getting into reading now and really enjoys it.

Danielle - Forever the diva of this family, she knows what she wants and won't take it any other way. She's in the same preschool class again this year, I think she'll be sad to leave her teachers when she moves up to kindergarden next year. She turned 4 in October, but she's going on 13 believe me. She loves to sing and dance around the house, and enjoys playing outside on her new bike.

Juliana - This angel of course made her debut into the Peterson family this year. I cannot even wrap my brain around the fact that she'll be one in a month. She's is really just the best little baby. She only gets upset when she's hungry, tired, or sick. Oh, and when Danielle is spending a little too much time in her personal space. We really couldn't have asked for a better baby, she's already got that easy going Hawaiian attitude.

Cameron - Lately he's been playing Mr. Mom with the kids. He's been looking around for a job on the island, but hasn't had much luck. He's still teaching the 14 yr old Sunday School class at church and seems to enjoy it. And he has a birthday coming up next week, but I won't tell you how old he going to be.

Me, well, I'm plugging along as usual. School started up again and this semester should be fun, but challenging. It's nice to be taking more major classes, though the scheduling is a nightmare (it's a huge blessing that's Cameron's home, finding babysitters would be crazy). I look forward to starting my student teaching in the fall, and graduating next June. I'm still the nursery leader in our ward and still enjoying it.

So, there you have it. Nothing too terribly exciting. But life is good. And since I don't have our second annual picture with "Santa" yet, I'll leave you with this one of the kids in their Christmas outfits.

We love you all, and hope that this new year brings many blessings, joys and peace to you and your loved ones.

Day Two: The Ball Room

2009-01-15T22:17:00.002-10:00

So as I previously said, we spent day one of our time in Cali relaxing with family - that was Friday. Day two (Saturday) we spent at Universal Studios. I'm glad we started there, because while Cameron and I did have a great time there back in the day before kids, it's still not really a favorite park of mine. But we were still able to have a great time even thought it was chilly still, and we had on the warmest clothes that we own. I even borrowed a blanket for Juliana in the stroller. As long as we stayed in the sun we were good.

Here are some photo highlights of the day:

Posing with the Hulk before we even got into the park. I love Abby in this picture - cracks me up!

Juliana lovin' being eaten by Jaws.

Posing with a "Who" - which wasn't quite as cool then, but now that we've watched 'Horton Hears a Who' it's been upgraded (my kids don't care for 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas').

Hanging out with the gang from Apollo 13 - check out Juliana between Kevin Bacon and Tom Hanks. Too bad Tom had a little glare going on there (and yes, we're on a first name basis).

Abby was the only one who would stand with George. Seriously - he is so cute.

I have to tell you - the best part of the day for the kids was this big room in Whoville where there were TONS of foam balls and lots of gizmos and gadgets to use to suck them up, shoot them out, pop them up, etc, etc, etc... That's all they could talk about all day.

All in all this was probably the lowest rated day in my opinion. Universal's just not really little kid friendly. There's not a whole lot of rides that were fun for them. Older kids and adults could have a blast there, so maybe we'll go back WAY down the road. But until they put in a Barbie movie ride, I think we'll stick to the many other attractions in Southern California.

The Great Flood and Cold Toesies

2009-01-13T15:12:00.010-10:00

**The pics are finally in - enjoy!**

I know, I know, I've been a total slacker in the blogging department lately. I'm mean seriously, I just realized today that I still have my Christmas wallpaper up. But to be fair, I really wasn't on the computer at all during our little vacation, so it's taken me a while to get my reader back under control. I literally had hundreds of new posts (from wonderful people like yourself) that I hadn't read. And of course I couldn't just skip over them - I wanted to read them all, so it took a while. Now I'm finally back to my regular daily reading and I have a few minutes so I thought I would share part one of our holiday adventures (it's going to take a few installments, it was a LONG trip).

The real adventure actually started the night before our planned departure - it rained. Now that doesn't sound so terribly thrilling, or adventure-some, but believe me it was. It poured buckets for about 36 hours straight. Needless to say there are just a little flooding, when we woke up (in case you don't hear my blog in my voice, I'm being sarcastic here - there was a lot of flooding). And it just got worse and worse. I'm SO glad that we live in an apartment on the second floor. Our downstairs neighbors had about 4 inches of water in their place - just everywhere. It was crazy. The elementary school closed, I think BYU would have, too, except it was the last day of finals, so what are you going to do. Here's a few pics I took of the area right around our building.

(You can't really tell if you've never seen it dry, but that lake at the middle-top of the pic is normally a parking lot. There was water up to the top of the tires on some cars before they could get them out.)

(There's one more step down to a sidewalk that runs the length of this "puddle". This is also the edge of the water that is in our building downstairs.)

Here some other blogs and websites with much better pictures, so you can see the magnitude of it all. There was just water EVERYWHERE. The community really pulled together and neighbors that were flooded out were taken care of, houses were sandbagged, hoards of vollunteers were fed and warmed. There's still some damage that it being worked on - I know there are at least a couple of families that haven't been able to return home yet because the damage was so extensive.

Lois's website - she also has great pics from other community events if you feel the desire to browse you might catch my kids in a few here and there.
Ashley's blog - now living in Cali, but she was here for the fun.
Fellow TVA resident - I've never met her, but her family's real cute and she took some AMAZING pictures.

In spite of the flood, we did manage to actually leave as scheduled, but we ended up being rushed, we left earlier than planned to make sure that we could get into Honolulu to the airport - there's only 2 ways around the island from here (North or South - duh) and when one is shut down the other gets really clogged. We were very lucky that there weren't any closures when we went.

After drying off at the airport we boarded a red-eye flight to LAX - when traveling with 4 small children, this is really the way to go. All 4 of them pretty much slept for the whole flight. I didn't even have to break out snacks or anything. Plus we were on one of the newer planes where each seat has its own little TV screen - and while the movie and TV selections weren't working for a small section of the plane (which of course, including our seats) there were games still working that were fun to play, so the 6 1/2 hour flight went by pretty fast.

Once into LA we were totally caught off guard by the cold weather - it was very chilly and us in our Hawaiian shorts and T-shirts. I mean it was Southern California, we didn't think we would need to break out the ski parkas until we got to Utah. But we made it to Cameron's brother's house and spent a really fun day relaxing and playing with cousins.

And then the madness ensues! Seriously, what were we thinking? For Christmas Santa brought the family Southern California City Passes. That's 6 days of themepark fun. Sounds great - and it was, for the most part, but it was a lot to cram into the 10 days that we spent in California. To top it all off, it was cold the entire time. Well, OK, there were 2 completely gorgeous days - the 2 days that we decided NOT to go anywhere so we could recoup. So it goes.

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-06T13:26:00.003-10:00

As the saying goes - absence makes the heart grow fonder. I have missed my 75 degree weather, more than I thought I would, and I am terribly happy to be back home again.

Well, I of course don't have time to write about our 24 day mainland adventure right now, but I just wanted to let you all know that we made it back safe and I have LOTS to share over the next week or so. For now I'd better get back to putting things back in order.

A chance for some free stuff

2008-12-06T19:51:00.002-10:00

And it's really cute!

OK, so I have several blogs that I read that give away stuff on a regular basis. Usually I don't even bother to enter because, let's face it, I never win anything. Well, that's not really true. I can think of exactly two times that I have ever won a random drawing/raffle of some sort in my entire 31 (and 1/2) years. But this stuff is too darn adorable to pass up, so I entered. And if I tell you all about the contest, I get another entry, so that's what I'm doing. They are giving away an absolutely beautiful little dress, a play tea set, and a fun cookie set. Man - that's Christmas for Danielle all in one shabang! Here's the link to kiddo.org so you can check out the goodies - go look, and enter - if you don't want them you can send them to me after you win:)
And even though you might think from your first glance that all Kiddio does is give stuff away (hey - it's free!), they also have really cool crafts, DIY stuff, etc... They even have a whole boycraft area.

OK, nothing else real exciting to update you on. I spent most of the day working on presents, but of course I can't show you anything yet, sorry. And I really should be working on a few last papers and projects I have due this week (finals - yah and yuck and the same time). So I guess I'll get to it. 'Night.

Pumpkin Ravioli Retold...at last

2008-12-01T19:49:00.003-10:00

I heard that my dear Auntie has the gunk, so for her sake I figured I'd better write something for her to read, and I might as well get on with the pumpkin ravioli story. Though at this point, the stories you all have come up with sound a lot better than the real deal, and I'm not so sure that I want to relive it. I really wish these ravioli had been some deliciously lovely yumminess that involved cheesecake and graham cracker crumbs as suggested by my friend Liz. But alas, they were not. So here we go:

Whatever night it was.... Tuesday, so Monday I decide to do something I never do, try a new, exotic, yummy sounding recipe that I know no one else in the family would appreciate but me. I really thought it was a good idea. In my useless blog wanderings for the day, I had run across a recipe for pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sage sauce - doesn't that sound good to you? I thought it sounded divine. So I went about purchasing the needed items for the meal and talked it up all afternoon. (Though Cameron really thought I was joking when I told him.) I set about to make them, only to find that I had purchased pumpkin pie mix (you know, the pre-sweetened stuff), not plain pumpkin. So sad - though I did make that pumpkin pie mix in to absolutely fabulous pumpkin bread the other day:) Cameron thought he was in the in clear and would no longer have to force his happy face though dinner, but I was smarter than he - I managed to pick up a can of pumpkin while finishing up my Christmas shopping the very next day - haha! So Tuesday night the ravioli were unveiled.

Now I have to be fair here - the reciped did call for fresh pumpkin (which I just don't have the time for) and fresh sage (which my store was all out of), but I really don't think it would have made that much of a difference. And my first bite was WAY too hot, in my haste to get to hula class on time and to taste my divine dish, so I totally burned my tongue. But even after I got dressed for class and actually used a fork to try it, I was sorely disappointed. Pumpkin ravioli were just not meant to be. What cruel person persuaded me to give them a shot? I don't recall, but they liked them. I remember, even their child liked them. Not mine. Cameron either (but we all know that already). It was a bust. Oh well. And at the time of the original post I had a whole plate full in the fridge waiting for some hungry person to give in and try - but I threw them out today. I couldn't stand to look at them any longer, they were just sitting there, teasing me, shaming me, bringing to rememberance my sad experimental cooking. I'm not a cook - baking I can do, but I'm not a cook.

So anyho0 - there you have it. A good home is no longer needed, but if you really feel the urge to try pumpkin ravioli, I think I still have the recipe somewhere in the kitchen....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T20:58:00.003-10:00

Just wanted to get on and quickly tell you all HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Though it does seem a little silly since it's no longer Thanksgiving for some of you already, and the rest of you probably won't read this today. Oh well. But I am thankful for many things this year. Here a (very) short list:

Loving Husband
Energetic Children
Chubby Babies
Reynolds Turkey Bags
Plenty to eat
A warm, soft bed
Family all over the world (I'm not thankful that they are spread all over - they just happen to be:)
Friends that don't just leave a mark, but continually shape me for the better
Christmas trips made possible by generous parents
My creativity
That I can actually see the light at the end of my schooling tunnel (June 2010, baby!)

Really, I could go on forever, but I have kiddos being rowdy when they are supposed to be "trying" to sleep. Needless to say, I'm very grateful for the many blessings that I have in my life. And I'm sure there are things that I am blessed with that I'm not even aware of. I hope that you, too, are feeling grateful for the many good things in your life, whatever they may be.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Wanted: Good Home for Pumpkin Ravioli

2008-11-25T21:12:00.006-10:00

Don't you love it when you spend time writing a great blog entry and then seconds before you hit the publish button is just disappears? I don't know why this happens to me - this is the third time. And in my complete astonishment that all my painstaking writing is gone, the autosave takes that moment to save a completely blank post, so I can't even go back and work on the last part that was saved. At least the title is still there...

That's what has happened tonight. And frankly, I don't care to write it all again at the moment. I'm tired. I want to do a crossword, have some cocoa, and go to bed. So for now you'll all just have to wonder what I wrote about. Hope I don't keep any of you up with all that wondering. Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2008-11-23T22:28:00.007-10:00

It's been pretty rainy here the last few days. In fact, that's all it did on Saturday - I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was so gloomy and gray all day, I don't think the sun even peeked through once. And although it was a little chilly (I'm sure it was like 65 or something) and the kiddos had to stay inside all day, it also made for a perfect crafting day! I feel like I've been neglecting my craftiness lately, so this was a nice break from the norm. And it was handy since I have a ton of crafty things to get done.

First up on the list, there's a craft fair at the elementary school on Nov 29th that I decided to sign up for - hoping to drum up some scrapbooking business, I would REALLY like to get back into the CTMH groove. So I've been working on a few things for that, mostly gift card cards (they hold the gift card inside them) and scrapbook page kits. Plus I cleaned out and organized all my old displays and will be selling those items that I won't be using again because either the stamp set or the paper has been retired. It's a pretty good assortment of stuff. And the table was only $25, so I figure I can't lose out. So if you're in Laie on the 29th, come check it out. It's in the elementary cafe from 9am-2pm.
**Edit: I received a call this afternoon (11/24) that the craft fair was cancelled due to lack of interest. However in talking to my friend Ashley I found out that there is another crafty-type dealy in Kahuku, that I'm now delighted I can attend (it sounded cooler anyway). So that's a few things I can cross off my list for now!**

On top of that little project, this year I decided that I would try to make our Christmas gifts. Not to save money (as one my think, because really, I think it will be a wash) but mostly as a good excuse to make stuff. And it's working. I have figured out gifts for all but 2 people on my list (ahem, Mike and Eric), but I'm working on ideas for them - guys are a little harder, the gals were all super easy. And while I don't want to give away too much I did take a few sneak peek photos to share what I've been up to the last couple of weeks whenever I have a few minutes to spare.

You'll just have to guess which things are for which person and what they may end up being.....

I know you're all looking forward to lentils in your stockings:)

Now I'm off to prowl the web for some cute Christmas flannel for PJs....

I've Been Tagged

2008-11-21T14:52:00.003-10:00

So my friend Liz decided to tag me (again). But this time I broke the rules. She tagged me for the 6 interesting things about yourself thingy, but since I did that not too long ago, I decided to copy another post of hers. And it was a lot of fun. So fun in fact that I'm going to break my usual rule of not passing on tags and actually pass this one on. So here it is:

Concept:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search. http://www.flickr.com/search/

2. Using only the first page, pick an image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php (choose four columns and three rows, also choose individual URL's)

Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you.

12. Your nickname.

So, I'm tagging Elise, Tonia, Ami, Kerry, Aunt Lynn, and Larisa (who doesn't post often enough, so I'm giving you a reason to).

Photo Credits:
1. Lisa Original, 2. I love cherrios....., 3. 39 more days, 4. Green velvet, 5. Orlando Bloom, 6. Sweet as cinnamon, 7. Designed by shadow, 8. cheesecake for Lianna!, 9. ..Precious Things.., 10. 2 months + 26 days, 11. 54/365 - Pick Your Battles, 12. Babe