Sunny Days

It's been so nice and warm the last couple of days. We got out the slip and slide yesterday afternoon, and the boys had a wonderful time, Chandler and Daddy included! Ethan and Aidan were great sliders this year (last year they were very timid and slow!). Yesterday they were running and sliding and splashing right out of the pool on the end. Very fun! Cousin Carolyn even joined in on the fun!

And here is Carolyn in her little outfit we brought back from Hawaii. Very cute! It's so fun that Summer is almost here. Hope your day is shaping up to be as sunny as ours!

Hawaii Fun and Photos

Aloha! We're back now and did so many fun things I thought it would be easy to just post lots of photos and label them. Enjoy!

Here are the ones from our underwater film. . .

and here are all the others. This is a rather long slide show. Hope you have time to watch! Aloha!

A final Aloha Blog

This will be the last message from Hawaii because our friends we are with here, the Boyntons are going home tomorrow, and with them, their computer.

The last two days have been so relaxing and fun filled. Yesterday we went to church in the morning and heard the famous, "brothers and sisters, Aloha!" Then later to Wiamea Bay for swimming in an ocean that I can only describe as the most beautiful swimming pool ever. I loved it. I loved putting on my mask and seeing clear down to the white sand bottom. It was fantastic. I think I could even convince my mom, whom I have never seen swim in the ocean to hop in. It was fantastic. I think we're going to go back there for sure. Gordon and the Boyntons also did the whole jump off the cliff thing, and I happily volunteered to be the photographer.
Then it was smoothies and a laid back night, ending with a very nice dinner and pina coladas.

Today we drove into Waikiki for hiking (Diamond Head) and got nice and sweaty up at the top. After that we hit the beach at Waikiki for an attempt at surfing on an almost surfless island. It was a fun attempt, but didn't yield much success. It was fun though, you could swim out a mile, I swear. Gordon and I got on our backs even though we were wearing our 50 SPF sunscreen, and so tonight we are feeling the burn a little more than we would like. I'll definitely be sleeping on my tummy tonight. We think we didn't wait quite long enough to hit the water. Tonight dinner in Haleiwa and then the sunset on Sunset beach with more Pina Colada to follow. A very nice day. More to come with a nice slide show when we get back!

Aloha!

Hawaii Day 2

So we had a really nice day here! We were up at 5:45 to the sound of a rooster crowing near by. (also, our internal clocks were going off!) So we all dressed and headed out at about 7 over to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium. We found some fun things and some surprises for the boys, and then headed into Waikiki. We walked the beach a bit and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and decided we'd definitely be back to swim (Gordon and I) but we had snorkeling plans already so that will be another day. We ate at Dukes on the beach and had such a nice time.

After this, we headed up to Sharks Cove for some snorkeling! I was really hoping I'd be able to do this, and really wanted to enjoy this because everyone else thinks it's so fun, but I had a panic attack the last two times I tried this. (the only 2 times I've ever had a panic attack!!!) So, we get out there, I've got my gear on, and I stick my nose under just to peek and see some fishies, and they look pretty tame. So I try that a few times, and then get in a little bit (maybe 6 inches) deeper, and peek my nose in and HELLO HUGE SEA TURTLE!!! He kept swimming really close to me and I made all kinds of squealing noises and I just wasn't sure I wanted to swim next to him, but I was enjoying him from above the water. He was very cute. He kept coming really close so that held me out of the water for a while. (I'm sure at this point Gordon was thinking I was not going to make it in) But, Mr. Turtle moved on and I managed to get all the way in. I clung like glue to Gordon and realized I was in the fetal position for about 5 minutes, and he kept trying to get me to loosen my grip, and eventually it happened. Actually, eventually, after about 10 minutes, I was out there diving and looking for cute fishies with the best of them! I loved it! I really really enjoyed it and can't wait to go again, so that is a huge milestone for me! I'm still not sure I want to swim with Mr. Turtle, but he did have a cute face!

So after about an hour, Gordon came swimming up to me and held up his left hand and something was missing. Dang it, the wedding ring is gone to sharks cove, soon to be either discovered by another snorkeler or eaten by a big fish, or used as a little home for a snail or something. That was kind of sad, because we just looked at each other and knew there was no way we would ever find it, we had been all over the cove. We looked for good measure for about 15 minutes before deeming it hopeless. So that is kind of sad, but at least we were having a wonderful time together when it happened. I foresee a new ring in our very near future. (probably after we get back from Hawaii.)

Tonight we ate at a shrimp shack (I don't know why people want to eat there - I just observed!) and then went for shaved ice with ice cream in the bottom tonight, it was very fun! Ready for beddy. . .

Aloha!

Aloha everyone! Gordon and I say hello from across the Pacific. (although I've been trying not to look at the maps because it reminds me of how very far away we are from the guys!) In a happy surprise, we do have Internet access here at the condo and I'm kicking myself for not bringing my cameras USB hub. It would have been fun to put up pictures for the kids to see, but I guess they'll just have to wait. Grandma tells me they are all behaving very nicely, the baby is actually eating, and everyone is happy to have Grandma in town! Such fun! THANKS GRANDMA!!!

We are having a marvelous time so far, and we haven't yet been here 24 hours. We landed yesterday around 11:30, got our car, and met our friends at the Polynesian Cultural Center for lots of fun. We especially enjoyed the dance parade they do on floating canoes, and of course the luau and night show was spectacular. We especially liked the Tahitian dancers with their "quick hip shaking." They are pretty fun. The boys would have loved the fire dancers.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! We're off to go to the big swap meet in Honolulu, and then snorkeling at Sharks Cove. We'll see what else the day brings. ALOHA!

Laugh if you will. . .

. . .but I am about to blog about a toilet seat. Yes, you read right! We had to replace the toilet seat in our Master Bathroom, and I bought the new "easy clean" type. I LOVE IT! What's the worst part about cleaning the toilet? (Aside from the fact that you're cleaning a toilet) is getting all the lint and such out from by the hinges. It takes forever! Well, now they have new seats that just snap off and you can just wipe it all up and it's done! HURRAY for INNOVATION! So that's my latest product endorsement. I'm tempted to replace all the seats in our house, but I suppose I will wait until it needs to be done.

Watch for new blogs from us. . . we'll be coming to you from the Aloha islands over the next week! (if we ever happen upon some free Internet service!) Aloha!

Our Fun Weekend

It has been a fun weekend here! On Friday night we traded babies (and babysat for each other) with a friend and took the big kids to the carnival at Ethan's elementary school. Much fun had by all.

Saturday brought yard work from seriously 9 - 5. It was a long day, and we had bark dust delivered and river rock to spruce up the yard. We laid down that black fabric to keep weeds away from our walkways as well, so we think that will be nice. Aidan was our little yard work man. He seriously shoveled bark dust for at least 2 1/2 hours! He loves to do "grown up work" and the like. At one point, he stopped shoveling for a moment, looked at Gordon, and said, "Dad, thanks for helping me with this. It would take a really long time if you didn't!" How fun to have such a happy helper! Ethan enjoyed moving the rocks, but was ready to be done when it was bark dust time. I don't blame him! Chandler cooperated by napping long and hard! Here's some fun pictures of our hard working little men.

After all the work the boys were VERY hungry and VERY thirsty. I caught Aidan finishing off the crystal light and was glad I had my camera handy! :) (another manners lesson yet to come)

Today has been a lovely mothers day, with a special breakfast for me(Oatmeal - and yes, that is what I asked for!) and the boys singing in church with the kids. They did sign language to "love is spoken here" and it was so cute to see them very seriously making sure they got all the signs in. So cute! I also got these wonderful Mother's day notes. . . the first from Aidan. . .

And this one from Ethan. It is my favorite! It reads, "I love you. I am comfy with you." I guess that says it all. I love it! Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Happy Mother's Day!

"Cute-knee" Pie

So Aidan's pre-school started this cute thing where at lunch the kids give eachother compliments. Then at the end of the day, they bring them home in their lunchboxes. (the teachers help them write them down and deliver them to eachother) Usually it's like "you have cute hair" or "You are my friend" but yesterday Aidan got this fun one. . .It made me giggle! What do you think. . . cute knees?

Quilting fun to come. . .

Today I have two fun projects sitting on my desk (that is actually a mountain of fabric and paper drawings of quilts, etc) The first is the beginnings of the Kindergarten gift for Mrs. Penner, Ethan's teacher. I've been helping to organize, and all the parents have been great! All but two of the kids have completed their squares of a self portrait, and now I get the fun of putting them together in a fun and bright lap quilt. . .

The next is a collaborative effort with my dear friend Nicole, who lives in Cambridge, MA for the next three weeks. She is on partial bed rest with her twin girls, and needed something fun to do with her hands. She shares my obsession with cute things made of fabric, so I sent her some pieces that I sewed to the printed interfacing that she appliqued onto the background fabric. I just got them back today, and I will put them into a quilt and then send it back for her to do the hand binding. This is great! I get to have all the fun with the machine, and she does all the dirty work. (did I say dirty work? I meant handy-work. :) Here are the cute squares. She is so good at this stuff! She's working on a second set for "baby B" now.

Stay posted for finished products!

Two Wheeler!

Today was an exciting day for Ethan! With a little help from Daddy and a lot of courage, Ethan removed his training wheels from his bike and we took him up to the park to give it a try. He did GREAT! I don't think I'm ready to take him out on one of our afternoon bike rides without them yet, but I can see the day is soon coming. There was only one rather bad tumble which produced the "shiner" on his upper cheek. But, he got right back up and off he went again. Here are some fun pictures and videos from the grand adventure. Yea Ethan! Great Job!

Quilts for the Humanitarian Project

I finished these two cute quilts over the last week, and I promised to post them, so here it is! This first one is a panel that I did free motion work on, which is just so much fun! I love it. It's like drawing on the quilt, and it's so fast. I think I quilted the whole thing in less than an hour. I've had this one sitting around forever so it was nice to finally get it finished.

This next one I did after the same pattern (well, mostly) that the quilt from Jenn for Chandler is. I love that quilt. I used leftover fabric from Chandler's airplane quilt, as well as a couple of extra pieces I just bought. I LOVE it! This one is quilted just like Jenn's, on the diagonal through the squares. Love it! (almost too much to give away to a stranger, but hey, it's for a good cause, right?) The other great thing about this quilt, is I FINALLY figured out how to blind stitch, so the binding is actually attractive! WOW!

Here's the original from Jenn, with Chan man!

a new Pet?

Last night when we put Aidan and Ethan in bed I noticed one of my Rubbermaid containers sitting on their dresser and asked what it was for. Aidan said, "That's my little ant friend!" So, I peeked inside and one lonely ant was wandering around in there. "He is the cutest little friend in the whole wide world!" I suppose we've hit that stage when bugs and small amphibians will soon be coming home in jars. The Joys of Boys!

Fun Mail

Ethan and Aidan were thrilled to receive this postcard from Grammy and Grampy, all the way from Holland where they are vacationing. Thanks guys! Can you beleive how fast it came!

Do you have any ideas?

Mommies, I need some help! I am in a lunch time rut with my kids. We are apparently on the "peanut butter plan" and I need some help. Does ANYONE have any lunch ideas that their kids are hip on? It's been getting so bad lately that it's pretty much peanut butter every day. (Pathetic, I know!) Any ideas for lunch boxes and especially lunches at home would be appreciated! Thanks!