So Thankful

What a rough few last days!

Darrick and the USS Hopper left on Thursday morning. We had to bring Darrick to the ship and get up at 4:45 am! So of course we were all tired the rest of the day. I took a little nap when the boys did and woke up with a headache but still thought it was because I got up too early. I kept going and in the evening the boys and I went to Bible Study, which by the way was really good.

But by the end I was not feeling good at all and made a quick exit home. I barely got the boys and myself in the house before the stomach flu it me hard. In between my bathroom stops I somehow got the boys in bed. Everyhour, if not more I was up getting sick. By morning I was wiped out.

My original plan was to go grocery shopping that day because we were out of the basics. I called my neighbor Lauren to ask her if she could get us a few things. She dropped off saltines at my doorstep. My neighbor Margaret saw her and found out I was sick and later came over and took the boys for about 3 hours. Lauren came back with my groceries and told me to take some advil (my temp was 101.4) and gave me a banan and 7-up. I couldn't even think straight. After Margaret's daughter woke up she took the boys for a few more hours and then Lauren took the boys for dinner and baths! I cannot tell you how thankful I am for such caring neighbors. It is so amazing to be in a community that supports one another especially when our husbands are gone.

And then today Lauren called to check on me, Margaret stopped by and my other neighbor Audrey heard I was sick and offered me help or if I needed anyhting from the store. On top of all that, someone mowed our lawn today. Whoever did it (Margaret was it you?) thank you so much.

I am feeling better today but still weak. I'm so glad it was only a 24 hour bug!

I cannot believe that next week this time the boys and I will be in California-we're so excited!

Katrina

You will probablly find this hard to believe but before today I had not seen ANY footage of the hurricane. Of course I was hearing bits and pieces of what happened. Since I have 2 little ones at home, I have made it a point to not watch the news anymore during the day. The news is not good and the commercials are terrible too. I don't even watch the morning shows because we have cartoons on. At night I have other things to do.

Well today after talking to my friend Lauren I decided I should try to watch some. Jacob was napping so and Micah was playing so the only news on then was CNN. It was interesting because the guests were the Surgeon General, Dr. Phil and Rick Warren (author of Purpose Driven Life). I was pretty amazed and shocked at everything that was going on.

Then I noticed that Oprah was doing her show about it so I tuned it. By now Jacob was up and they were both cuddling by me. I couldn't help weeping at what I heard and saw. I was trying to explain to the boys why I was crying and what we were watching. At the first commercial I muted the TV and told the boys we needed to pray. So they bowed their heads and closed their eyes and in between my tears I got the best prayer out I could. I can't believe this world we live in and the condition of the people's hearts.

Every night when we tuck the boys in we pray and sing a song. Lately they pick "This little light of mine" every night. After the traditional verses I added "let it shine to the people in the storm" and Micah asked me why I did that. I told him so that Jesus could help them and they could have hope. When I look at the state of this world and think what it will be like for the boys the only things I know I can do is pray and raise them to be strong God fearing men every chance I get.

Labor Day

Today we invited our neighborhood friends over for a BBQ. At noon only one family came and a friend of our family so we grilled and had a yummy lunch. Later in the afternoon more neighbors came so we grilled again for dinner! We all enjoyed ice cream sundaes for dessert-after lunch and dinner!

We had 3 pools set up, the trampoline, the sandbox and a slip 'n' slide so the kids were busy all day. We had weird weather-it was sunny and hot, then it would rain even though it was sunny, a rainbow came out and then a double rainbow.

We really enjoy entertaining and having people over. The adults had a great time talking and laughing and eating of course!

Happy Labor Day! The summer is now over...

Our Sunday

We had such a great day today. During breakfast we were talking about the next few weeks. It is wierd to think that next Sunday will be our last one here for awhile and then the next one we will be our first full day in CA! Darrick leaves this week for a couple of months so we wanted to have a family day today.

We went to early church, which starts at 8:15 am so it is nice to have a great start to our day and then a long day ahead still. Right from church we headed to North Shore. We stopped at Dole because my cousin Dan and his wife Dee just had their second child(a boy) born on Sept. 1st and I am sending the baby a gift and wanted to send something for the big sister too. I remember that people did that for Micah and it helped him adjust to the new baby. It was super crowded today-tourists everywhere. I even got bumped and pushed!

From there we headed to Haleiwa and had lunch at Cholo's-yummy, but not near as good as Mexican food in CA-I can hardly wait, my mouth is watering right now! From there we headed to Shark's Cove. Last week when we took Karen there we had so much fun. Well now that Micah is swimming he feels more comfortable in the water. He was trying to look at the fish using our snorkel gear which was too big. So this week, while at Walmart I bought him a kid size set and Darrick wanted to see him use it before he leaves so we thought today would be a good chance. We had so much fun. The water was warm and we saw so many cool fish. We enforced the buddy rule with Micah so first I was his buddy. At first I thought he was panicing but then realized that he was just so excited by the fish he was seeing. What we like about Shark's Cove is that you do not have to go very deep at all to see fish. On the way home we stopped for some shave ice. I tried 2 new flavors-pina colada and strawberry with ice cream on the bottom-it was sooo good! Darrick is hooked on ice cream in his too!

Tonight we cleaned up the house and got some food ready for our neighborhood BBQ tomorrow! It is raining right now but we hope it will be sunny tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Today we celebrated our friend Charlie's 3rd birthday. We met at the Ewa Beach Railroad and had sandwiches, chips and birthday cake. Then we all boarded the train for a 45 minute train ride. We all had a good time and the engineer even let the kids each blow the train whistle after the ride!

This morning we ran around doing some errands. And this evening Darrick mowed the grass.

Back to the routine

Well Karen left today which means that my vacation is over too! Back to the laundry and grocery shopping.

Yesterday we spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and had a really great time!

Then this morning we brought Karen to the airport. She was so easy to have and fit right into our family. We all miss her already. The boys really liked "Miss Karen" and didn't want her to go today. But we will see her again in about a month at our friend Becky's wedding in Wisconsin.

After dropping Karen off we stopped at the clinic because Jacob needed a TB test, which I wanted to get done before we come to CA. He is so brave and did not even cry or say ouch! I was pretty amazed.

Then we had a mini board meeting for the Hopper Ohana at California Pizza Kitchen. Then we went to the commissary and finally home.

The boys were in bed early and we hope to be too.

We invited some of our neighbors over for a Labor Day BBQ. Hopefully we get a good turn out!

What we've been up too!

Wow...we have been so busy! Here is the latest-

Friday: When Darrick got home from work we drove to Honolulu for the night. We parked at the Hale Koa which is a military hotel and then walked to the International Market Place. We ate dinner at a little plate lunch place on the sidewalk and had pork, chicken, rice and macaroni salad. Then we shopped and Karen got all of her gifts for friends and family. We walked back to the Hale Koa and loaded all our deals in the van. We went to the beach at the hotel and watched the fireworks. From their we went to Bibas and had dessert.

Saturday: We got up bright and early and went out for breakfast at the Wright Bros. Cafe. From there we took the scenic drive to Hanauma Bay. After the mandatory movie before you enter we walked down, down, down to the beach. We found a great spot and Karen and I got ready to go snorkeling. We probably looked like a comedy routine. We were falling over trying to get our fins on and the waves kept knocking us over but finally we got out. We saw some cool fish but somehow ended up on the coral reef right where the waves break and were knock silly. We both got cut on the coral-Karen pretty bad and had to return and go to the lifeguard station. When we were done at the beach we had to hike back up the hill which was terrible! I had to carry Jacob on my back! We stopped at Dirty Lickins for lunch and then to home for showers. After that we went to Paradise Cove for our Luau. It was awesome! We all had so much fun and the food was amazing.

Sunday: This morning we got up and went to church. After church we drove to the Dole Plantation. We rode the Pineapple Express and all tried a chocolate covered pineapple. From there we went out to lunch at Cholo's and to Matsumoto's for a shave ice. It never fails that one or both of the boys flips theirs on the ground-this time it was Jacob and it landed on my foot-nice. Then we headed to Shark's cove. My neighbor Margaret recommend it to us-thanks Margaret-it was awesome! Karen watched the boys and Darrick and I went out first. It was amazing and better then the day before. We saw amazing fish and even got to hold hands while we swam along looking at everything. Later Karen and I went out. The boys played in the water and collected shells. Then we went to dinner at Pizza Bob's. We then went to watch the sunset and finally drove home.

We are all so tired but had so much fun these past three days. I sent out pictures to everyone through ofoto-if your not on my list and want to see them just let me know!

Day 2 in Hawaii

This morning we just spent time relaxing and hanging out in our pj's. Jacob was also really tired and he took a good 3 hour nap. Our friends let Micah borrow their Buzz Lightyear costume so Micah wore that all morning (see pictures).

In the afternoon we took Karen to the USS Arizona Memorial. We went after lunch and only had to wait 20 minutes until our tour. I always feel so emotional when I am there-this was my third time. Karen really enjoyed it and thought it was good (see picture of her in front of memorial).

After our tour, I drove her around Ford Island and then we went to Dave's Ice Cream for a treat. Our friends Miss Lauren, Charlie and Alex met us there and we all enjoyed our ice cream a lot.

After that we came home and jumped on the trampoline and even Karen got on and showed us her stuff. Then we had dinner and took a walk around the block with two other neighbors and enjoyed the nice cool Hawaiian breeze. It was really humid today-blah!

We are all ready for a good night sleep and then another adventure tomorrow!

Micah as Buzz Lightyear/ Micah and Jacob

Karen at the Arizona Memorial

And our mystery guest is...

Karen Scholten. Some of you may not know who she is. Karen is from Ripon, CA. We actually met at Dordt and were roommates for 3 out of our 4 years there.

Karen's flight arrived right on time even though the boys and I were almost late. We could not find a parking space and ended up parking far away and having to walk a long ways, actually it was more like a jog-good thing I had the stroller. But we got there a few minutes before Karen and were able to greet her with a lei when she came through the doors.

From the airport we took her to lunch at the exchange and from there we went to Pali Lookout to enjoy the beautiful wind-and a nice breeze (actually it was blowing really hard again)!

Tonight Karen and I went to get a pedicure and then out to dinner by ourselves. Our neighbor watched the boys until Darrick came home (Thanks so much Lauren!).

Another adventure tomorrow...

Karen and me/ Our cute toes

Busy

To all our faithful readers, we are sorry, but things have been so crazy.

The first reason is that the boys and I are getting ready to come to CA for 2 months. We had planned that we would leave about a week before Darrick's ship pulls out so he could help me get ready and bring us to the airport. But on Friday the ships schedule was changed and now he is leaving a week and a half before us. Sometimes it is hard that the Navy rules our life and we have no say when and where Darrick goes but that is the way it is. So we have been busy trying to get things done before Darrick leaves.

We also have a visitor coming tomorrow so I have been getting things ready for her. Who could it be...find out tomorrow!

We had a really great weekend. Saturday night Darrick and I went on a date to celebrate our anniversay 2 weeks ago. Troy and Bow watched the boys. They are so great with them! We drove an hour to the Polynesian Cultural Center and ate dinner at the Ambassador buffet and then went to the Horizons night show. The dinner was ok but the show was amazing! We really loved it.

Sunday after church we went to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium. They have it every Wed., Sat., and Sunday. This was my first time and it was fun. But boy was it hot. It is on the black top which just radiates heat. Near the end Micah just keep saying "Can we go home and play in our pool?" Which is just what we did.

The weather has been hot for here. The forcast shows 89 or 90 degrees all week. I know that it is nothing compared to other places for with our weather normally in the 80's this is hot and there is no smog so it is direct heat.

Our neighbor Maragaret, who has a 1 year old daughter, traded pools with us. She had a bigger one and we had a smaller one. We have been swimming in that every afternoon and jumping on the trampoline. Needless to say the boys have been pretty tired at night-which is a good thing!

For the past few nights the boys have wanted to sleep together in the same bed (Jacob's bed). And it was working good. We love to hear them talking and laughing and soon falling asleep-well until last night. I don't know what the deal was but they were not going to sleep and kept goofing off. Finally after about an hour we put them in their separate beds. We love to see their relationship grow as brothers.

Well we will be pretty busy over the next week with our visitor but I will post as often as I can!

Happy Birthday Darrick!

Today we are celebrating Darrick's 32nd birthday! But for some reason the Navy wouldn't give him the day off-so he still had to go to work. But when he got home we treated him like a king. Micah and I made a banner on the computer and hung that up. Then he opened his cards and a gift from us. After a quick shower we took him out to dinner. We found a new place that he wanted to try so we thought his birthday would be a good reason. It is called "Dirty Lickins' " and they specialize in authentic New York style Buffalo wings. Darrick got 10 medium (heat level) wings and he said they were so good. So good in fact he enrolled in the 1000 wing club. When you eat 1000 wings you get your name up on a board in the restaraunt. Wonder how long that will take? I had a really awesome plate lunch. It is a very popular thing out here. I had Teriyaki grilled chicken, rice, salad and macaroni salad-it was so good! Then we came home and had birthday cake and ice cream-yummy!

There were so many people who guessed about Darrick's record on the trampoline. And the answer is 71! Some of you were close. So when you come to Hawaii we will see if anyone can beat his record!

We're so sore!

Well tonight we are definitly feeling that our bodies are not as young as they use to be. In the afternoon we spent time in the back yard watching the boys play and jump on the trampoline. After awhile Darrick got in there and was doing some tricks, the boys were cracking up. Then I got in there too and we were having so much fun.

I decided to see how many bottom bumps I could do in a row (jump land on my bottom and then back up to jumping). My first try I did 10, yahoo! So I challenged Darrick to beat my score. So he got in and did 31! Well I had to try again and I did 37! It is really hard because you have to land right so you can jump back up. Well Darrick couldn't have me holding the record so he tried again and blew my record out of the water! I don't think I will ever beat it! How many do you think he did?

But oh are we feeling it now-I hope we can get out of bed in the morning!

Jump, jump!

Last night we bought a trampoline! It is something we have been thinking about for awhile. The boys always want to jump, mostly on the couches and beds which we do not allow. So we thought this would be a good alternative. It took Darrick and I about 2 1/2 hours to put the whole thing together-without arguing! We all jumped last night and then some today and boy are my legs sore!

I went back to the doctor again today beacuse the symptons of my bladder infection were returning. The Doctor decided to keep me on the same antibiotic for a few more days and see if I improve. I'm am getting so tired of this!

We have been having a weird smell in our van for awhile and we can't seem to find where it is coming from. Well today I did. We finally figured out it was around Jacob's carseat. At first we thought it was the seat protector under his seat so a few weeks ago we took it out and washed it. Well the smell started coming back. So I decided to try washing his car seat cover today and bingo! I started taking the cover off and got squirted some who by this green juice that smelled liked barf and sour milk! Then deep in the crevious of the plastic parts was the grossest mold I have ever seen! It was about the size of a golf ball, no joke! Who knows how long it was growing there or even what it was but it was bad! So I cleaned and scrubbed and washed it all (including myself). I am so happy the mystery is solved, well mostly, we still don't know how it got there-but I guess that is something only Jacob knows...

The last few days

As you can see from the pictures below, the boys had their last swimming lesson today and he did it: Micah learned to swim! The only thing holding him back was that he would not put his face in the water. So at our Wednesday lesson, we went in the 1 ft. pool and Kristi had him look for her keys on the bottom. He loved that idea and she would tell him to kick his legs this time or use your arms and before we all knew it he was swimming. And today he swam in the big pool-it was so exciting. And of course being a proud mom I had the video camera and regular camera to capture the special moment. Jacob did really well too. He went under the water and tries to swim in the 1 ft. pool. At the end of the lessons the boys gave Miss Kristi a card they made for her and they each had a lei they picked out from the store to give her. After a nice picture (that little girl is her daughter) we said our goodbyes.

Here are some more updates from this week:

Tuesday we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We went out to dinner as a family which was nice. On the 20th Darrick and I are going out to celebrate and Troy and Bow are watching the boys so we are looking forward to that!

Wednesday Darrick took his midterm which he feels went pretty well.

Thursday I took the boys to the zoo for the morning. We had a good time and then we went to Bible Study last night.

So that was our week, I wonder what the weekend will hold...

Last swimming lesson

The boys with Miss Kristi and Micah swimming

No tattoos for me!

Well since a few people asked asked, I thought I would respond. No I do not have any tattoos. I have thought about it but I can't think of anything I love that much that I would want on my body forever. Darrick does talk about getting another one someday but we will see.

The boys had swimming lessons today. This is their last week for this summer. Micah swam today just holding onto a kick board and tried to swim a little on his own but he is nervous. Jacob swam around with his floaties.

I continue to feel better and am regaining my strength.

Nothing really exciting happened until Darrick was giving the boys a bath, I was cleaning up dinner. Micah opens the door and yells down the hall "Mom, Jacob pooped in the bath tub! Come quick!" And sure enough when I got there they were both dripping wet out of the tub and the tub had poop floating around in it. It's funny how when you are a mom, poop is really not poop, it is just something you have to deal with constantly. My job was to get it out of the tub and it didn't even phase me. Where was Darrick during all of this you may wonder, since he was the one giving them a bath...Let's just say that Darrick doesn't handle poop very well. So he got them dressed in their pajamas. Kids are funny. Jacob didn't seem to get what the problem was...hopefully he will someday! :)

What was he doing?

Were you right? As you can see from the picture Darrick was getting a new tattoo. He has wanted this design for over year. So this year for his birthday (August 16) I gave him the money to get it. It is on the side of his right calf. The cross is blue with dark blue tips and outlined in black, then the word REBORN is in solid black. It was done at TNT tattoo by Dr. Dave in Aiea. We are really happy with it and now we just have to wait for it to heal.

Speaking of healing, I am starting to feel better, I think this is the right medication. Darrick let me rest all day today and did everything. Praise God for antibiotics!

This afternoon we went to a Welcome BBQ at church for new people to meet the staff. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot.

Saturday

Our day started off with us going in different directions. I dropped Darrick and the boys off at the field for a 9 am soccer game, and I went to a board meeting for the Hopper Ohana. When we were done with our meeting I picked Darrick and the boys up and we went to the commissary for just a few items.

On the way home I was telling Darrick that I still didn't feel good and the medication was almost out. So we took me to the weekend clinic. The dr. said different kinds of bacteria can cause a bladder infection and it often is hard to tell which one and give the right antibiotic. So he perscribed me a second antibiotic and said if I don't feel better by Tuesday I need to come back.

From there we wanted to do something as a family since the boys were in the house all week with a sick mommy. We went to the Hawaii Maritime Center. We were excited to find out that it is part of Bishop Museum because we have an annual pass and got in for free instead of paying $16.00! Darrick, Micah and I each got a headset. We loved it so much and learned a lot. I would highly recommend it. It has little bits and pieces of history , Capt. Cook, whaling, cruise ships, etc. I love to watch Micah because he is like a sponge and is just drinking in all the knowledge. The boys favorite part though was when we got to go on The Falls of Clyde-a four masted sailing ship built in 1878. They were convinced that it was a pirate ship. Micah came to me and said "Mom I wish we could really sail on this ship with the pirates!" They got so excited when we went below the deck and they had some old trunks stacked and they decided that was where the treasure was.

We walked around the stores by Aloha Tower a little and saw the bird man. He has all these beautiful exotic birds that he will put on you and then take your picture (For $ of course) but when he had no customers he put a bird on each of the boys shoulders. Then he tells us that these certain birds are for sale. And that was just what Micah wanted to hear. He has been wanting a dog for a while but now it is a bird.

We were all tired and headed for home. So now the boys are sleeping, I am writing our blog and Darrick is out. What could he be doing all by himself on a Saturday night? Guess you will have to check back tomorrow and see-any guesses?

Fun with Foil

Yes, sad but true this is what we do for fun on the weekends-we dress our kids up in tin foil and then laugh at them. They were pretending to be robots so they thought it was so cool!

Update

It has been a rough week for our family. The boys and I all have pretty bad colds. Then to top it off I got a pretty bad bladder infection. I am on antibiotics right now but I am so exhausted from my body trying to fight off 2 infections. Darrick has his midterm this week and has had some rough days at work. Just wanted to let you know that we did not fall of the island. We are looking forward to the weekend and hopefully we will all feel better next week.

We also added a link to Troy and Bow's new blog. They posted some really cool pics of their trip to Thailand.

Our Weekend

Good Morning everyone!

Well it is morning here but probably afternoon for some of you with the time difference. I have a bad cold and have just been laying low. It is windy and rainy here so Darrick took the van today, which is alright so I can rest. Jacob has it too.

Jacob and I stayed home from church and rested. Jacob slept for almost 4 hours-it was great so I could rest too.

Since "The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe" movie is coming out this winter about a month ago I decided I wanted to read the whole chronicles of naria. I have only read "The Lion, the witch and the wardbraobe" before. So far I have read "The Magician's Nephew", "The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe" and yesterday (in one day) I read "The horse and his boy". I am really enjoying them.

Darrick and Micah went to see "Shark Boy and Lava Girl" in 3D at Sharkey theater in the afternoon. Micah thought it was really cool and enjoyed time with Daddy.

After dinner we had movie night in the living room. We popped popcorn and ate m&m's and watch an old version on VHS we have of "The lion the witch and the wardrobe".

Well the boys just woke up-8 am. Which is sleeping in since they normally get up at 6:30 every morning but they did not get to bed until 10:00 pm because the movie went long. So I guess it is time to start my day...

Weight

Hello this is Darrick
I am sure that some of you are like, "Oh great he just tells the details of the day."
I do have a couple of things to add. First, unlike Jenn's brother Sam, I am down to a weight I have not been to in years. So you know what I am talking about Sam's blogspot link is to the right so you can check it out and be caught up on that weight issue. Seriously I can't remember when I was down to 200 lbs. I am not sure if people realize I got up to 227 lbs on recruiting. But on Friday I hopped on the scale after my shower and the digital readout said 200 lbs exactly. I am not saying Sam weighs 200 lbs just that I am happy to be 200 lbs again and that I lost some weight. My goal is 195 lbs, it was 200 lbs but now that I made it and I see in the mirror that there is a little more to lose so I set a new goal. This happened with no tricks or pills or weight lose plans. Just eating better, especially at home thanks to Jenn, and stopping eating when I am full and exercising a little more than before.

Now on to today. We had a fun day. Bow and Troy invited us over for BBQ and swimming. I can not believe how great the boys did swimming today. They were in the water for hours and hours. We bought them those noodles that lots of people have. They are great because they are like $1.50 each and they keep the boys afloat. We also got Jacob some Batman arm floaties. Micah and Jacob swam around by themselves. Jacob would not even get in the pool before. Now he is swimming around by himself. Micah is a really good swimmer with just a noodle around his waist he was all over the pool. Their swim teacher would be so proud. I am sure it will not be long before Micah swims with no float device help. I can see he has the ability just needs to overcome his fears.

Well that is all I have for now. Hope you have a good Sunday everyone!
Darrick

Rub a dub dub

This morning I watched Charlie and Alex. We decided that we would play in the back yard on the slip n slide, in the pool and sandbox! About 20 minutes into our play it started to pour! But the great thing about Hawaii is that even though it was only 9 am it was not cold. The boys all danced in the rain and had so much fun.

When we were done I brought all four boys in the house and put all four of them in the bathtub. They had fun even though there was not a lot of room to move.

Jacob and I have not been feeling 100% so we rested in the afternoon. Then we played outside and invited a new neighbor JP to play with us. He is 3. We had fun and played until Darrick came home.

It rained off and on all day which was nice-maybe we will get some more!

Micah

We are not sure when it happened but right before our eyes Micah turned into a boy instead of a little boy.

This weekend Darrick looked at me with tears in his eyes from just watching Micah and asked me where our little guy went.

Today at swimming lessons he tried swimming without any flotation devices. He has come so far since his first lesson when he wouldn't even get in the 1 ft. pool.

After swim lessons we went to the commissary and Micah had to go to the bathroom so we headed for the girls room and he said "No mom, I want to go in the boys". My first thought was "But I can't go with you!" And it guess the reality is that was the point-I'm a big boy now and I can do this by myself. I waited right outside the door (I probably looked like a stalker). He came out and said "Mom, they play nice music in there" and I said "Did it help you pee?" and he said "yep". So simple yet, I wanted him to come out and say "Mom it was scary in there and I like going with you so much better!"

I love being a mom but it is so hard to let go of them and let them grow up...

Our Gate

Today was a normal stay at home day... nothing exciting.

A few days ago the gate on our back fence fell off it hinges. Darrick said the wood rotted away at the hinges, but the question is why? Our guess is either bugs or just old wood. Anyways DZB (the maint. crew) is coming to look at it tomorrow so we will see what they say.

So that is it for today...short and sweet!

Fun Day

Today I really had no plans and Darrick took the van to work so the boys and I were just going to hang out at home. But in the morning our friends from across the street called and invited us over to play. The boys all had fun and Lauren and I even got some time to talk. Then we had lunch on their patio and the boys played in the water.

After we left we relaxed and watched a little tv. I discovered a channel on tv that shows "Lassie" and "Flipper" in the afternoon. Today was the second time we watched it and the boys like "Lassie" the best. But Micah finally asked me why it had no color. It seemed to confuse him and he asked me if they saw color. Today in the episode they were painting Timmy's go cart and he asked me if they were really painting it a color and that he wanted to see it. In that way he likes "Flipper" better because it is in color.

In the afternoon we got out our slip 'n' slide and the boys had fun with that. We talked to a lot of our neighbors today- all of them in fact came out at some point and talked to us-it was really fun.

Jacob learned how to do the hang loose sign this weekend and has been doing that to everyone he sees. It is so cute and everyone gets a kick out of it!

Sunday

We woke up this morning feeling lazy but actually did a lot by the end of the day!

We went to church. There was a guest pastor who spoke to us on healing. It was very interesting and coming from a CRC background something that we have not heard a lot about. Micah was moved to the Kindergarten class for Sunday school. Two weeks ago they asked us if he would mind switching because the Pre-K class had way too many kids (which is actually a good thing!). Knowing how Micah does not like change we walked over to that room and met the teacher and showed him the room. But of course this morning he wanted nothing to do with it and started crying in the car on the way to church. I told him I would go with him and stay for a bit. He liked that idea. The teacher was great! And I was able to leave after about 5 minutes. When we picked him up we asked him if he liked it and he said "No...I LOVED it!" we all laughed.

Jacob took a nap in the afternoon and I scrapbooked while Darrick and Micah went to Sharkey theater to see "The adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl". But the 3D glasses did not arrive at the theater in time so they were reshowing "Madagascar". So they watched that again-why not? It is free! Micah enjoyed time alone with Daddy. They also got Micah a haircut at the Barber Shop by the Exchange.

We have always given both the boys buzz haircuts. But now they are different because they both have such different hair. Micah has always had nice hair, it reminds me of my brother Jeff's hair. Jacob on the other hand has unruly hair and it reminds me of my brother Dave's hair-we often compare his hair to a burlap sack! Oh, love between siblings...
So a few months ago we decided to let both of the boys hair grow. Micah's looks good but Jacob's just keep getting bigger and fluffier and it made his head look enormous. So today Micah got a traditional boy haircut and Jacob got a buzz and they both look great! We are very happy!

Arrgh Matey!

The boys did not have swimming lessons today because it was overcast and looked like rain. So we enjoyed our morning relaxing. We also went to 2 yard sales on base but no amazing discoveries. For our Pancake morning today we all tried something new. We had whole wheat pancakes with turkey bacon. We liked it a lot and plan to have it again.

This afternoon we attended Gilbert & Sullivan's the Pirates of Penzance. It is an Opera and this afternoon they had a Children's Matinee and the tickets were a lot cheaper. The boys did really good and it held their interest most of the time. Darrick and I really liked it, it was funny. They gave everyone a pirate eye patch when you came in the doors so the boys liked that. It lasted about 2 hours with a 15 minute intermission. It was in Downtown Honolulu. One thing that we really enjoyed it that they had a screen on the top of the stage that displayed all the lyrics to the songs which helped us follow the story line. Micah asked us if we could go again tomorrow so I think his first experience at the opera was a success!

After the opera we went straight to Walter and Tiffany's house for their daughter, Jillian's 2nd birthday party. We had pizza and cake and the boys jumped in the bounce house. It was a fun day but we are all pretty tired! Good thing tomorrow is another day to rest!

Busy, busy, busy

I apoligize to those of you who check our blog every day to see what we are up to. Here is the scoop from the past few days.

Yesterday I watched our friends Charlie and Alex while their mom was out. Everything went great until Lauren called me on her way home saying the traffic was terrible and it looked like a fire by our houses. I took all 4 boys outside and we could see the thick black smoke really good. It was not on the base housing but pretty close. They ended up closing the road (the only road) to the housing because the fire hose had to go across it. Lauren did not make it home before they closed the road. Finally a few hours later she made it home safely and they put the fire out. I heard it was at a junk yard.

Darrick and I had a date night planned last night and we just made it to that. It took us about 20 minutes to get out of the housing because they diverted us through a park and some back roads and the bike path. We went to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". The original has always been a favorite of mine and I wanted to see the remake. I really enjoyed it, it was different from the first movie but good. I loved the boy who played Charlie.

Today was busy too. The boys had swimming lessons. Micah surprised his teacher and I by trying to swim just holding the noodle in front of him without anything around his waist. He is doing so good.

This afternoon the Hopper Ohana Board members met with the Captain, XO and CMC of the ship to discuss our plans.

Hope everyone is well, drop us a note sometime!

Our Saturday by Darrick

Hello again it is me Darrick
Today was a good day!
I had duty yesterday and had the mid watch, 10 PM until 3 AM, last night with no sleep before and got up at 6 AM so I was tired but kept busy and stayed awake. I will sleep good tonight!

When I got home this morning we had our usual pancake breakfast. Then Jenn had to go to the Hopper Ohana (family) meeting so I watched the boys. We played and watched some TV, ate lunch and Jacob took a nap. Then while Jacob was napping Micah and I played a computer game and had a lot of fun. It was snowboarding and biking an easy game for kids but like I said we had a lot of fun. I am not bragging about Micah but I am always impressed by how intelligent he is.

When Jenn got home we rested a little, I think I feel asleep for about half an hour. Then we went to the boys swim lessons. I was so proud of how good they are doing. Especially Micah I can tell he will be swimming soon. Jacob is getting a lot braver and actually is in the water and seems to be having a lot of fun.

We went directly from the swim lessons to Waikiki to the International Market place. We had a little trouble finding parking but eventually found a garage. But it was so tight in there. I seriously had to squeeze between cars to get to the spot they wanted us to park in. I mean inches on each side. Then I had to squeeze in the spot. I had less than an inch on one side of the van to get past a pole. It was crazy and Jenn said she was very impressed. After our van was finally parked we walked around and enjoyed some nice shops and ate at Burger King. It is really nice down there but you can tell that is where all the tourist are.

Well that is how we spent our Saturday. I am looking forward to Church tomorrow. We always get great messages.
Later,
Darrick

We're Back!

No we didn't go anywhere, but we have been really busy and the past few nights Darrick has been working on his online course, which he needs the computer for. Here are some highlights from the past few days:

At swimming lessons on Wednesday, Micah swam a little just holding the noodle, without it tied behind his back. But at the end of the lesson he was on the step with no flatation devices on. Jacob wanted Kristi and I to watch him jump. Somehow Micah feel off the step and into the pool underwater. But the awesome thing was that he got himself back to the step and out of the water. Writing it now it sounds like minutes but he was so quick maybe 5 or 10 seconds. Kristi was really proud of him too!

Thursday we attended the USS Hopper picnic at Foster Point on Hickam Airforce Base. The ship put it on and it was so fun. They had lots of stuff for the kids: bounce house, squirt guns, water balloons, pinatas, and face painting, the boys had a blast. For us they had free 30 minute massages. I got one and it was so great. The food was really good too.

Last night I attended a meeting at the Fleet and Family Services. It was "How to get your Family Support Group up and running". I went with the president of our group (Hopper Ohana) and the captain's wife. We learned a lot and are excited to see what happens. It was good to hear about all the other groups and their ideas.

This afternoon the boys and I braved the commissary even though today was pay day and it was bad like usual. But the boys did great and I bought them strawberry milk and goldfish for the car ride home since they did good. This was their first time drinking it and they loved it! I told them that Papa loves Strawberry milk (I hope that is right Dad, because they want to drink it with you when we come to CA!) I tried a sip but it brought back horrible memories. When I was little I wanted Strawberry Shortcake Cereal. Finally my mom bought it and I ate it. Now I don't know if it was the taste or I was sick but I threw it all up!

We are looking forward to the weekend! Hope you have a good one!

Trying new things

Today we discovered that no matter what age we are trying new things can be hard and take some getting use to.

Darrick and I have been trying to eat blueberries on our morning cereal. So far so good.

Today the boys had swimming lessons and the teacher wanted Micah to switch from the noodle around his waist to floaties on his arm. He flipped out but after some talking we got them on him and he eventually was fine and swam all over the pool. At first I felt frustrated with him but looking back on it tonight I realized that I feel that way too in life only I don't let my feelings out like he did.

Tonight for dinner we all tried Kiwi for the first time. It was good and I'm sure we will have it often.

What new thing have you tried or want to but have not yet?

Sunday

Today we had a nice quiet Sunday.

We really love the church we are at. Every Sunday we leave feeling so challenged. Today's sermon was based off of Acts Chapter 2. There were many points in the sermon that hit home for both Darrick and I but the biggest was tithing. If you aren't familiar that is the part of your income that you set aside for God. We wanted to make a change and so we sat down this afternoon and evaluated our budget and reworked it tonight after the boys were in bed. Our goal is to be better stewards of the money God has given us. We are also learning the hard lesson of living within our means, which we did not do for many years, and to become debt free by the time we leave Hawaii.

We also are both making a commitment to read and study the Word everyday. To be honest, we have been slacking. We asked our Bible Study last Thursday for any tips anyone had for us and we got some really good ideas. If you have a tip or something that you do we would love to hear it.

We hope everyone has a good week!

Busy but fun day

We sure did a lot today and we had a lot of good family time.

We started our day at the soccer field. Today was the playoffs for the Hopper soccer team. Their first game was at 9:00 am. I left at the beginning for a Hopper Ohana board meeting. They won their first game 3-1! Their next game was at 11:00. I returned from my meeting to catch the last 3 minutes of the second game, they lost 0-1. They were disappointed to lose but happy that they finished in 3rd place out of 16 teams.

We went home so Darrick could shower and then went over to Sharkey Theater for the first time. It is a movie theater on the Pearl Harbor Base. They were showing "Madagascar" a kids movie and we thought we would give it a try. The boys had never been to a movie theater before. We were quite surprised when there was a pretty big line outside. They only show one movie at a time and you can't beat the price. Kids under 6 are free, active duty military are free and I was $3.00! We had fun and Micah really liked it. Jacob did pretty good too. While we were waiting in line I heard a mom calling her son Micah and later she said Jacob. I asked her if her sons names were Micah and Jacob and she said yes. When I told her ours boys were Micah and Jacob too we all thought that was a pretty cool coinsidence. What are the chances of that?

From there we headed to Chuckie Cheese for dinner. When we got home we had ice cream and then played "Old Noah" our version of Old Maid.

We buy our gas on the base and we pay $2.36 a gallon for unleaded! But off base it is $2.48 a gallon!

And the answer is...

Thank you to everyone who participated in our trivia game.

The answer that is false is C- Darrick did not pass out at his graduation from Boot Camp although a few other people did.

Answer A- During a 6 month deployement Darrick and some of his buddies got a little bored so they thought piercing their nipples would be a good idea. They got some needles and ice and went for it. I was quite shocked when Darrick told me. He later ripped it halfway out on accident while taking a shower-ouch!

Answer B- Darrick and his buddy Matt decided to get tatoo's while in port in Turkey-hey for $30.00 why not? It was good at first but over time lost its color and faded. Last year Darrick got it covered up with a sacred heart that he is much happier with.

Answer D- Sorry to say but this one is true. It happened while Darrick was stationed in Norfolk Virginia, before we were married. The guys were actually after one of the guys he was with but since Darrick was with him he got caught in the middle. Yes, they used his head to break a car window and he got a black eye- thankfully that was all!

Answer E- While on the John Paul Jones Darrick was on the VBSS team. They rode little boats over to Iraq ships and boarded them. He had to carry a gun and they inspected the ship to make sure they had legal stuff on them. He enjoyed it but I was so glad when it was over!

So now you all know Darrick a little better! Thanks for playing!

Happy Anniversary Darrick!

Today is a special day in our house. Today marks 10 years for Darrick in the Navy-he is half way to retirement!

On this day 10 years ago Darrick arrived at Boot Camp in Great Lakes, Illinois and his official Navy clock started ticking. He flew there from San Diego and arrived in the afternoon. He landed in Chicago and then took a bus to Great Lakes. When he got off the bus he was greeted by lots of yelling and commands. They started issuing him everything the Navy thought he needed to survive. The next few days were getting shots, doing paper work, going to dental and going to medical and most important of all-learning how to march. Darrick is glad that is all in the past.


In honor of this special day we created the Darrick Hays trivia game-please guess which one is false and post your guess in our comments and we will post the answer tomorrow.

A. During one of his deployments Darrick pierced his own nipple with a needle and an ice cube.

B. Darrick got a tatoo of a coyete howling at the moon on his arm in Turkey for $30.00

C. During his graduatin from boot camp, Darrick stood at attention for so long he passed out but quickly came to again.

D. In Norfolk Darrick and 2 other sailors were jumped by 20 guys. One guy broke a car window with Darrick's head and Darrick ended up with a black eye.

E. On the John Paul Jones Darrick was part of the VBSS team which boarded ships coming in and out of Iraq.

Hays Family Independence Day

Hello there,

This is Darrick with all the details of our Fourth of July. First we got up and ate a breakfast consisting of breakfast bars and yogurt. Then we went to the commissary for some last minute things for tomorrow, but you will have to read tomorrow to see why we needed last minute stuff. While Jenn was at the commissary the boys and I went and got the propane tank filled. The place to get it filled is at the Navy Exchange Garden Center. They have a koi pond there so the boys and I spent some time looking at that. Then we met Jenn at over at the store. Then we came home and Jenn and the boys made puppy chow and I cut the grass. After the puppy chow the boys took a nap to be ready for the night time.

When the afternoon came we went to a friend from the ships house. Together we went to the base where they had a festival set up. They had jump houses, slides, pony rides, a car show, music and Chinese Dragons and on and on. Micah, Jacob and I went on a slide that was a shark. Jacob rode a pony while Jenn and Micah watch a show. We walked around the cars. Then Micah went on an inflatable obstacle course. Jacob went on the swings, the ones that go around. Then we all had a Slush Puppy and watched the Chinese Dragons and one came right up to our table. We left the festival at about 5:45 and went back to Walt and Tiffany's house for a BBQ and to watch the fire works from the base. The fire works started at 8:30 and we had a good view. They were really good. It was a good day, the boys were good all day and we had a lot of fun and we got some good pictures that I am sure we will share with you later.

Well that is the step by step account of our Fourth of July. I hope you all had a good day.
Happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July from the Hays Family! 

Fun with the Fuentes Family 

Ko Olina with the Fuentes Family

Today we were finally able to spend some time with the Fuentes Family. We went to church with them in California and they are friends of ours. They are here because Mike's dad passed away.

Darrick had duty yesterday and only got a total of 45 minutes of sleep. When he came home he was completely exhausted and stayed home from church to sleep. The boys and I meet the Fuentes family at our church and we worshipped together.

After church the boys and I went to pick up Darrick and then we headed to Ko Olina lagoons to meet the Fuentes family and Mike's relatives. We had so much fun catching up, eating and playing. We invited them over for dinner on Tuesday, which we are really looking forward to!

Today I also got a phone call from the captain's wife (The captain of Darrick's ship). She was calling to ask me if I would be the president of the Hopper Ohana which is a support group for families of sailors on the USS Hopper. I told her no but that I would take the Vice President position. So yes I am now the Vice President of the Hopper Ohana. I love to be involved and look forward to meeting other wives.

Why I love yard sales

Darrick has duty today so it is just me and the boys. After we ran two errands this morning and we were driving back onto base and I saw a sign for a yard sale. The sign itself was not unusual, since people are always moving it seems like there is a yard sale almost every weekend. We have never gone to one here on base but as I saw the sign I just had an overwhelming desire to go-so we did.

It was a mulit-family yard sale which is always good. I spent a grand total of $2.50 and got 2 Spiderman t-shirts for Micah, 3 power ranger action figures, 1 buzz lightyear, 2 pretend safety goggles, a train and track and a set of tinker toys! I was so impressed.

But the best part is that these "New" toys kept the boys busy all day long...it was great! It is funny because the boys have never seen a Power ranger show and really have no idea what they are. They just think they are super hero men. I am not a huge fan of power rangers because of all the karate fighting they do.

So I was able to get a lot of housework done and then in the afternoon we played in the backyard in our little pool.

What is the coolest thing you ever found at a yard sale or the best deal?

Jacob's first dentist appt.

This morning Jacob went to the dentist for the first time. For those who don't know he is 2 1/2. My friend Lauren watched Micah so I could just focus on Jacob. Micah took the time to tell Jacob what it would be like and the dentist was just going to "tickle his teeth"!

Jacob did not seem worried but was pretty conerned about getting a sticker. When they called his name for his check-up the first thing he said was "I get my sticker". He was a little unsure of the chair but got in pretty quickly. They were very good with him. He is too young for x-rays so all they did was check his teeth, clean them and then put a little flouride on them.

While we were waiting for the actual dentist he started to suck his thumb. So when she walked in she said "He sucks his thumb, yah?" She said of course if he sucks it until he is like 6 then we need to do something about it because it will mess up his teeth, but I am not totally convinced. I have heard two different theories 1) it is genetics that determine your teeth 2) thumb sucking will mess up your teeth. Does anyone have any experience or advice for us?

In the afternoon we went to a BBQ for a guy who works for Darrick that re-enlisted. It was nice and we had a good time!

Yesterday we did not write because we got home late from Bible Study. We really love this church and the people, we just seem to click so easily with some of them. We appreciate the Bible Study because everyone is so into studying the Word and have so many ideas and thoughts. The first week we were so surprised when almost everyone pulled out the notes they had taken from the sermon and were ready to comment on what they thought. It really challenged us! God is so good!

Darrick's Day

Hello everyone this is Darrick

Well for me today was a pretty normal day until evening. I went to work we had our PT. You know jumping jacks, pushups, situps, other silly exercises and a mile and a half run. Then to work to clean up get in uniform and go to work. I got off at 1600, or 4pm for the non military types.

Then tonight I met with a guy named Randy a Pastor from Hope Chapel West Oahu. We just met to get to know each other. It was nice because I need to Christian men to talk to. I hope that we get the opportunity to do that again. He mentioned that we could meet with another guy he gets together with so maybe I can make some new friends.

Jenn says she had a normal day nothing to exciting. We did go for a walk this evening after I got home from my visit with Randy.

That is all I have for now
Talk to you all later
Darrick

Scary...

Darrick had to go to firefighting school today. He had to be there at 4:30 am so he was pretty tired. The good thing was that he was home at 10:45 am-for the day! We were so surprised when he walked in the door. After an afternoon nap he felt much better!

We had a family meeting yesterday, our very first one. Darrick opened in prayer and then we explained to the boys our first allowance system. Micah's jobs are to clear the table and wipe it after dinner and then use the dusterbuster under the table. Jacob's jobs are to empty the bathroom trashcans after dinner and put the toys in the playroom. At the end of the week they each get $2.00 which is divided into God, Savings and Spending. They already had some money in another bank and Micah wanted to go buy a Wonder Woman action figure. It was so funny to hear them walking in the store together and Micah telling Jacob "You can't get that, you don't have enough money".

After that we went to Chili's for dinner. We love to get their Skillet Queso (It is a chili cheese dip served with tortilla chips). We were all eating it when Jacob started choking. He seemed to cough it up but then all of the sudden he started choking worse. I jumped up and pulled him out of the highchair and Darrick took him and turned him upside down. He coughed and threw up all over Darrick's lap. A few people jumped up to help us. He was fine and except for Darrick's clothes we were all ok but it was scary.

George the Gecko

Aloha! My name is George the Gecko. I am a baby. About a week ago I found a nice warm house to live in. The family that lives in the house is the Hays family. They are nice to me and let me live in their reading room. I like to hang out by the light on the ceiling and crawl around looking for bugs.

Every morning when the two little boys get up they look for me to see where I am. Last night they decided to name me George. I like this family and think that I will "Stick" around for awhile!

I like to change colors during the day. I change from white to brown and just watch the boys run around all day!

Different kind of day

It was a different type of Sunday. Since we went to church last night because Darrick had duty the boys and I did not go today. I am glad that we got to go together as a family but it felt odd to me today.

Our good friends across the street invited us out to breakfast and then to the beach. It is always an adventure with 4 little boys. We love going out with them and Micah had so much fun at the beach. After we got back home I watched her boys (while they napped) while she ran an errand and then she watched my boys while I went to the commissary. On the way home I picked up pizza and we all enjoyed that for dinner. Another family also joined us with their son and daughter, so it was a full house.

The boys are completely exhausted and so am I. We will all sleep good I hope.

I posted a picture of the boys with their new lightsabers. They are so funny when they play with them. One is always the dad (Darth Vader) and the other is the son (Luke SkyWalker).

Our Little Jedi Masters 

A moment we will never forget...

Today was really busy for us and we are all ready to crawl into bed for the night and get a good night's rest.

This morning Micah had his first swim lesson. And I guess it went ok. At first Micah refused to get in the pool and started to cry but his teacher, Miss Kristi, was great with him. She keep it real casual and took him in the 1 ft. pool. She was able to get him to blow some bubbles and kick but he would not let her touch him. She said this was a trust issue that hopefully Micah would overcome with time. We felt encouraged at the end.

In the afternoon Darrick had a soccer game. They won 5-4 in shoot outs!

Tonight we went to church. Hope Chapel West Oahu has a 6:30 pm Saturday night service. Darrick has duty tomorrow so we thought that we would try this service so we could still all go to church together. It was on the smaller side but we enjoyed it. After the service they had food and game night. Micah wanted us to play Candyland and the boys ate way too many donut holes but they had fun.

Tonight when I was giving the boys a bath for church, Micah started asking me these deep questions. He has been doing that lately to Darrick and I. Well, he wanted to know if God lives at church. So I told him that God is at church and that He can lives in our hearts. He said "I know, God lives in my heart. One day when we were at our other church with Auntie Bow, when Uncle Troy was singing, I asked Jesus in my heart!" The look on his face was pure joy and I'm sure mine looked just the same! I called Darrick into the bathroom and Micah told him the good news. It was truly a moment we will NEVER forget...

Learning to play the drums 

Day Off

This morning Darrick and some other people from the ship participated in the Ford Island Anchor Run. It was a 5K run (3.1 miles). The USS Hopper ran together as a team and finished with a time of 32 minutes and 8 seconds. They had to go back and get some stragglers. Darrick was happy that he did so well and that he was able to stay with the head pack the whole race. He got a t-shirt and a certificate and decided he would like to do more runs. The race was in the morning and after it he got the rest of the day off.

When he got home we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Darrick had never been there and we thought this would be a good day to go. We had a great time and really enjoyed spending time together as a family. They have a fun summer program for kids where they get a passport and if they do an activity in each village they get a stamp in their book. If they get enough stamps they got a prize. Micah really liked this. He got a tatoo, made a fish out of palm frawns, learned to play the drums and played Hawaiian bowling. For his prize he got binoculars which he thinks are great!

On the way home we stopped in North Shore for dinner. We went to a new place called "Pizza Bob's". It was really yummy and we enjoyed dining on the patio by the fountain. Then we walked to our favorite ice cream shop for a hot fudge sundae-yummy!

Thanks for all the prayers for Micah's leg! It looks much today and by tonight it is just a small little bump! Praise God!

New Mini Church

Hello everyone this is Darrick

Would you all please pray for Micah's leg? It looks like he got bit by a spider and the bump is pretty big but we think he is OK. If it does not look smaller tomorrow we may take him to the doctor. We are giving him benadryl just incase.

Today Jenn watched the neighbor boys Alex and Charlie and was brave enough to take all four boys to the museum by herself. Everything went really good for her. The museum was empty during the time when she was taking the boys to see the robotic reptiles.

Tonight we went to a new Mini Church that is part of Hope Chapel West Oahu. We really enjoyed it. They totally made us feel welcome. First we prayed and sang. Then we studied the message from Sunday and reflected on how it applies to us or how it made us feel. Then we separated guys from girls. I liked that part because I miss my time and interaction with they guys back in California and really need that in my life.

Talk to you all later
Darrick

Surprise Visitors

Today I got a phone call from AnneMarie Fuentes. The entire family, all 7 of them, are here! It is not under happy circumstances though-Mike's dad suddenly passed away this weekend. We know the Fuentes family from Friendship Community Church. They were good friends of ours and we also rented their house from them for a year. We are going to talk again and make plans to get together while they are here-we are so excited.

Micah threw up this morning-but it was only one time, so I don't think he has the stomach flu. His throat is still sore but he is acting and feeling better. I had to cancel Jacob's dentist appt., so we spent most of the day letting Micah rest on the couch.

Darrick got home early again-3:45 so we were able to eat dinner early and go for our run and then a nice long walk down to see the crabs. But the tide was high and all the way up to the wall so the boys could not get any rocks to throw in the water. But it was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed the exercise.

Plumeria we saw on our nature walk 

Nature Walk

This morning the boys and I went on a nature walk. It was so fun and we saw so many cool things! I really love the ages the boys are at. It is so easy to go and do things and it is really enjoyable taking them out. They are so curious and love exploring as much as I do.

Micah has a really bad sore throat but besides that he feels ok. The rest of us are getting back to our normal selves.

This afternoon I had a nice long conversation with my sister-in-law, Laura. They are doing good and will find out the sex of their baby in a few weeks!

Darrick was home by 4:00 today and so we all drew pictures outside with sidewalk chalk.

For dinner I made turkey cheddar burgers. They had shredded zucchini and red onion too and were so good! I also tried grilling some zucchini which was good but I think I like it steamed better.

After dinner we went for an exercise run. Jacob rode in the stroller while Micah rode his scooter and rode in the stroller some. Darrick and I ran. I ran almost all the way! We figured the whole trip is maybe 1 mile. I am not a very good runner. But the evening was so beautiful and the sky was filled with pink fluffy clouds-it looked like cotton candy. Ahhh...just another day in paradise!

Exercise

Today I decided that I would start walking again. In CA I loved walking and had no problem motivating myself. I loved the path and the distance was perfect. But since we have moved to Hawaii I have not been consistent. So today I decided to think about what my problem is. I have decided that I am trying to go to far. I was leaving my house and walking off the base until I reached 30 minutes and the I would turn around and go home. So 1 hour total. So today I walked 30 minutes total and that went so much better. I will try that 3x a week and see how that goes.

Micah also rode his scooter today while Jacob rode in the exercise stroller. He made it the whole time-I was so proud of him.

Does anyone else's house look like a bomb exploded in it after the weekend? Well today I did a complete overhaul of the house. I even rearranged the playroom. Things just get out of place and laundry to catch up on. It feels so good at the end of the day when it is all done.

But now it is bath time for the boys and Darrick has duty tonight so I am flying solo so I better go!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to those Dad's out there reading this. We had wierd weather today. It was rainy and misty-good thing we didn't plan to take Darrick to the beach.

We gave Darrick his gifts before church. The boys seemed to really enjoy this part and they seemed to understand why it was Dad's special day.

Church was GREAT! We really love it at Hope Chapel. Micah's got 15 Bible Bucks today (5 for attendance, 5 for praying this week and 5 for memorizing his verse) He had 5 from last week so he cashed them in today for a cool light up spinning top. He thought that was great.

After church we took Darrick to Tony Roma's for lunch (his choice). Parking was a nightmare, we had to park across the street at the mall parking garage. But the good thing was that we only waited about 15 minutes to be seated. That is one thing that we have noticed in a mostly Asian environment-the Asian buffets are PACKED but the other restaurants are ok. Today for the first time Micah ordered a real meal off the kid menu. Usually it is a hot dog or pizza but today he said "I want BBQ chicken" and he did pretty good on it too.

The afternoon was spent watching Star Wars IV, V and VI and relaxing. I had to leave the marathon to go to the commissary. Overall it was a great day!

Ready for church-Hawaiian style 

Saturday

We are all feeling pretty tired today. I got up with the boys at 6:30 am and let Darrick sleep in. They just watched cartoons so I could just sit on the couch and wake up. When Darrick got up we had pancakes and bacon-yummy!

Then we played and got ready for the day. We decided to get the boys a haircut. We normally buzz their hair at home. But I thought we should try growing their hair a little bit. We mostly wanted to get it cleaned up around the edges. Darrick thought we should take them to the barbershop by the exchange. It was so efficient. You take a number and they were whipping people in and out of those chairs so quickly. Most people were getting military haircuts. They gave the boys a lollipop to bribe them-actually Micah. Jacob got right in the chair, I had to put Micah in the chair and make him stay. Micah's looks really good, but I am not happy with Jacob's. I think it is the shape of his head. I hope this doesn't sound mean but his haircut reminds me of Frankenstien. So I don't know, we may go back to the buzz cut.

I stayed home with the boys and gave them both a nap while Darrick went to his soccer game. He played almost the whole game and his team won 5-1!

We did other things in the afternoon like run some errands, mow the lawn, laundry and clean the bathrooms. We want to just relax tomorrow and not have all that stuff to do.

End of the week

Well here it is Friday night. And what do two people married in their 30's do on a Friday night? That's right you guessed it...we dined at Chuckie Cheese and tonight I am scrapbooking and Darrick is doing homework! Here's a recap of our day...

Micah was not thrilled to go to VBS again today but he went. Darrick and I told him that if he finished what he started and went like a big boy we would celebrate tonight at Chuckie Cheese. We are not totally sure what he didn't like exactly but we know that he did have some fun. When I asked him if he wanted to go again next year he said no. And I am ok with that-I guess I should say that I am learning to be ok with that. I am learning that Micah is not me or like anyone else. But he is EXACTLY who and what God dreamed he would be and my job as a parent is to guide him and not change him. I am confident that we will find activities that Micah loves if we just keep exposing him to new situations.

This was our first time to Chuckie Cheese's in Hawaii, it is 2 minutes from our house. It is crazy how much the boys loved it! We went early so to avoid the masses. We ate our pizza and watched the show. Darrick and I laughed because the boys couldn't take their eyes off of the show. But things have not changed since I was a kid. They still have the ridiculous characters that move their heads from side to side and blink their eyes and maybe move their arm every once in awhile-but the boys loved it. Then we had fun playing games together, I played a few rounds of skeeball-I love that game! Then they redeemed their tickets for a little flying thing.

Darrick is taking Astronomy through Program for afloat college education (PACE). After this class he only needs 5 more credits until he earns his AA degree! I am so proud of him. He is waiting to use the computer because he has to watch these outdated CD lectures. Better go!

Random items

Going to VBS today was not good. Micah freaked out and cried and wouldn't go in his class. We talked and it was not working. So we walked back to the car. I had a dr. appt. in about 20 minutes that I had to get to so I did what any desperate parent would do-I bribed him. I told him we would go to McDonalds after VBS and he could have ice cream and it worked liked a gem! Darrick came to watch the end of VBS and then we all went to lunch. So Micah then decided he wanted his ice cream for lunch, along with french fries and chocolate milk! Some days it is just not worth the battle...

But we made up for it at dinner. I served soybeans tonight and they were a huge hit. Jacob ate a ton and loved popping them out of the shell into his mouth. Micah even ate more then his four.

I went to the doctor today for my cough. He gave me some stuff that I am hoping will help me out tonight, but Darrick says his throat is hurting now.

In the end, Micah had a blast at VBS, one of his best days ever, and we are all hopefully getting some good rest tonight!

Nightly cough fest

Every day I think that I am better and then after dinner I start my nightly cough fest. It usually lasts until after midnight. It is so frustrating and no matter what I do, it will not stop, argh!

Micah is now over half way done with VBS and I think he is really loving it. I think his teacher has a lot to do with it. She is great and very nuturing and quite good with the kids. Micah has really taken to her.

Darrick's ship is now in the yards for the summer. We are looking forward to a lot of family time. We are both working hard again on eating right and exercising. Darrick is out running right now. I really enjoy cooking healthy for our family. The boys are doing better then I thought they would with the food. They have been trying things which is so nice. Jacob surprisingly likes any vegetable I put on his plate. Micah will eat his 4 pieces fine (They have to eat as many pieces as how old they are) and then he doesn't want more but that is fine with us. Darrick is also open to trying new things which helps. We have had some good meals so far this week!

Military Spouses

My friend Steph sent this to me and I loved it, I thought I would share it with you!

Military Spouses
This was written by Col. Steven Arrington. It was printed in our post paper "The Fort Bliss Monitor". It rings true to my heart as I am a military spouse.

"Over the years I have talked a lot about military spouses, how special they are and the price they pay for freedom too. The funny thing about it is, most military spouses don't consider themselves different from other spouses. They do what they have to do, bound together not by blood or merely friendship, but with a shared spirit whose origin is in the very essence of what love truly is. Is there truly a difference? You have to decide for yourself.Other spouses get married and look forward to building a home and putting down family roots. Military spouses get married and know they will live in base housing or rent, and their roots must be short so they can be transplanted frequently. Other spouses decorate a home with flair and personality that will last a lifetime. Military spouses decorate a home with flair tempered with the knowledge that no two base houses have the same size windows or the same size rooms. Curtains have to be flexible and multiple sets are a plus. Furniture must fit like puzzle pieces. Other spouses have immaculate living rooms and are seldom used. Military spouses have immaculate living room/dining room combos. The coffee table got a scratch or two moving from Germany, but still looks pretty good.Other spouses say good-bye to their spouse for a business trip and know they won't see them for a week. They are lonely, but can survive. Military Spouses say good-bye to their deploying spouse and know that they won't see them for a month, or for a year. They are lonely, but they will survive.Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag and then write a check out for getting the hose reconnected. Military spouses cut the water off and fix it themselves.Other spouses get used to saying hello to friends they see all the time. Military spouses get used to saying good-bye to friends made in the last two years.Other spouses worry about whether their child will be class president next year. Military spouses worry about whether their child will be accepted in yet another new school next year and whether that school will be the worst in the city...again.Other spouses can count on spouse participation in special events, birthdays, anniversaries, concerts, football games, graduation, and even the birth of a child. Military spouses only count on each other because they realize the Flag has to come first if Freedom is to survive. It has to be that way.Other spouse put up yellow ribbons when the troops are imperiled across the globe and take them down when the troops come home. Military spouses wear yellow ribbons around their hearts and they never go away.Other spouses worry about being late for Thanksgiving dinner. Military spouses worry about getting back from Japan in time for Dad's funeral.Other spouses are touched by an elderly lady putting a card down in front of a long, black wall that has names on it.The card simply says, "Happy Birthday Sweetheart. You would have been sixty today." A military spouse is the lady with the card. The wall is the Vietnam Memorial.I would never say military spouses are better or worse than any other spouses. But I will say there is a difference. And I will say that our country asks more of military spouses than asked of other spouses. And I will say without hesitation that military spouses pay just as high a price for freedom as do their active duty husbands or wives. Perhaps the price they pay is even higher. Dying in service to our country isn't near as hard as loving someone who has died in service to our country, and having to live without them.
God Bless our military spouses for all they freely give, and God Bless America." COL. STEVEN ARRINGTON

Turtle Food

Tonight at dinner we had broccoli, which we have not had for awhile. As soon as Jacob gets to the table and sits in his chair he points at the broccoli and says "Turtle Food!" When we go to Sea Life park the boys love feeding the sea turtles. In the cup of food is pellets, celery, lettuce and broccoli. I guess I should serve it more if Jacob thinks it is turtle food and not people food.

Today Micah had his first day of Vacation Bible School at the chapel on the base. He was in the youngest class, which was for 4 year olds. He was not sure he wanted to go once he saw all the kids but I showed him his class and met his teacher and then I just left. Micah is so extremely shy and I just felt like I was throwing him in water and saying "Sink or swim". He had a smile on his face when I picked him up and even said that he had fun. It is every morning this week so we will see how tomorrow goes!

Hope Chapel

I sure did not feel good last night but Darrick took such good care of me. He gave me medicine, the heating pad, hot tea and rubbed my back. My cough is getting better but it is still not great.

We went to Hope Chapel West Oahu this morning and totally loved it! It is held in a school but it was so well organized. They had a nursery for Jacob and a preschool class for Micah. They both went to their new classes great. Darrick and I really enjoyed the worship and the preaching. We will definitly be going back and we are thinking about trying one of their weekday Bible studies. Some different people came and talked to us, including the pastor.

At the end of the service before the last song a guy went up on the stage with a guitar. He looked familiar to us. The pastor annouced that it was Paul Wright! We couldn't believe it! He is in town for his sister's wedding and stopped by. If you don't know, Paul Wright is a Christian Music artist and Darrick and I saw him perform at Spirit West Coast last year-he is pretty popular. We really enjoyed hearing him again.

After lunch Darrick and Micah had some one on one time and went to a car show by the commissary. Jacob napped and lucky me, I had some one on one time with the laundry! Wohoo!

Busy fun day

Hello everyone,
This is Darrick again. It has been a little while but Jenn is sick tonight and was in bed by 8:30 and she asked me to write tonight.
Today we got up this morning and after I cut the grass we headed for breakfast at the Wright Brothers Cafe on Hickam Air Force Base. We met our friends Steph and Rico there. While we were eating breakfast we saw a submarine coming into port. I think it was the first time Jenn and the boys saw a submarine actually moving. After breakfast Jenn and Steph went and got pedicures and Rico the boys and I went to play mini golf. In the afternoon Jenn the boys and I went to Bishop museum and Pali Lookout. It was the first time I saw these places. At the Bishop Museum they had an exhibit of robotic reptiles. They had a snapping turtle, a rattle snake, an alligator and a chameleon. They were huge and really good looking. At Pali lookout it was super windy I had to hold Jacob or for sure would have been blown over. It was a long but good day.
That's our day.
Please pray for Jenn to get well soon.

Can we just get well?

Well my cold has only gotten worse and I can barely talk today, I am losing my voice. This makes it very hard to take care of two little ones when I can hardly talk. I also have a pretty bad cough.

Micah is feeling better and Jacob too. But then before lunch I was changing Jacob's diaper and noticed that he was breaking out in hives! And he was itching. So I called the doctor and they wanted me to bring him in. But Darrick took the van today because they had a lunch today for first class petty officers. So I had to call him on the ship and he had to skip the lunch so that he could take Jacob to the doctor. They said it was definilty hives but a reation to what we are not sure.

It could be the medication he is on or something he ate...

To respond about the double rainbow: we did take some pictures but the second rainbow was too light and it did not show up in the picture. Sorry!

Double Rainbow

Tonight for the first time we saw a double rainbow. The first one was amazing. The colors were so vivid and it spanned across the sky. Then lightly right above it, following the same path was another rainbow. They were so beautiful.

Micah practiced riding his bike again tonight and has almost got it!

We also signed Micah up for private swim lessons. We were first looking into group classes on the base. They were almost all booked and what we didn't like is that they mixed swimming levels. Micah is so shy and uncertain in new situations and was refusing to go to lessons, so we knew this would not work. It was then that we started looking into private lessons. We found a great teacher who will give Micah one on one lessons. He seems very excited about this idea and meeting his new swim teacher. We will go to her pool since we do not have one. We are going to start on the 25th. We feel good about this decision and that it is the best for Micah even though it is more expensive.

He is growing up way too fast!

Wierd...

Today I was going to play pirates with the boys. We have all of the pirate stuff in a tub so we dumped it out. While we were playing I noticed a little white ball like thing in the middle of the toys. It was about the size of an m&m. I picked it up, and being a mom, I smelled it. It had a strange scent. I couldn't figure out what it was. I asked the boys but they didn't know either. So I squeezed it to see if it was hard or soft and it broke in my hand and yolk came out-it was an EGG! Now the mystery is what kind of egg was it and what creature laid it? I'm not sure if I want to know!

Also today the boys and I ran some errands. When we got back to the van I couldn't find my keys! I looked in the van and there they were on the front seat! Hello..where is my brain? Darrick is out to sea today and tomorrow so I couldn't call him. I could of called one of my neighbors but my house key was in the van too. I dug around in my purse and found a controller for the car alarm. We do not use the car alarm anymore because it was not working and I got stuck a few times. I hoped it would open the doors. I pressed it and nothing happened. I tired again and music to my ears-I heard the click of the doors unlocking! Praise God!

Thanks!

We first want to say thank you to all of you who supprorted us on our blog or wrote such encouraging emails-we truly are blessed with amazing family and friends!

Jacob is feeling a little better today and Micah and I are feeling a little worse. Hopefully it will go away soon.

Tonight we went to a meeting for the Hopper Ohana. Ohana means family in Hawaiian. It was so interesting. We were able to meet the new captain and command master chief. They talked about upcoming Hopper events like a picnic and the Christmas party. They also asked for volunteers to be on leadership for the Ohana. I put my name in so we will see what happens. Every month the Ohana has a meeting for all the spouses and they also plan activities and stuff for the families while the ship is deployed-I think it will be a lot of fun. Hopefully they can use me!

Good News

Tonight Darrick's brother called us and him and his wife, Maud, are expecting their first baby in the spring! We are so excited. Now I have a brother and Darrick has a brother who are going to be first time parents! We are so excited to welcome these new little ones into our families!

I also got the roommate letter today. This is a type of round robin letter that my roommates from Dordt started. We graduated in 1997 and have kept it going the whole time. There are 6 of us who write in it. If you don't know what it si I"ll explain. One person writes a letter and sends it to the second person. The second person writes a letter and sends their letter plus the first persons letter to person number 3. So when I get it each roommate has written a letter and included pictures. It is so fun to watch everyone's families grow and change and keep up on the news. I always look forward to getting it and taking out my old letter and pictures and sending it on with my new letter and pictures!

I took Jacob to the doctor today for a previous scheduled well check, even though he is sick. The doctor thought his ear looked like it was improving and just keep him on the antibiotics. From there the boys and I went to the exchange and commissary. We were surprised when we got home to find Darrick mowing the lawn! We were happy that he was home on time. Things are looking up...

I should have known...

Well judging by the type of day we had yesterday, I should of known what was coming. The boys were in bed by 7:30 and Jacob woke up crying around 9:30 pm. He was burning up and said owie. I checked his fever and it was 102.6! I called Darrick, since he had duty and had the van, to let him know if it got worse I needed to take Jacob to the dr. The tyneol brought his fever down a little and we both slept off and on. At 3:45 am Jacob woke up throwing up. Micah heard him crying and got up too. When I held Micah he was hot and said his throat hurt. His temp. was 100.5. We all crashed in the livingroom until Darrick came home in the morning. Right away we packed up and headed to the dr.

It turns out that Jacob has an ear infection caused by a virus and Micah just has a virus. So we were not able to try a new church today and just hung out resting. Darrick had the watch that started at 2:45 am so he was really tired too.

We did rent the Disney cartoon movie "Home on the Range". Has anyone seen it? Maybe it was because we were completley exhausted but that movie was cracking us up! We would recommend it.

So hopefully tonight will go better and we will all get a good night sleep!

Saturday

Today was a hard day with the boys. They miss Darrick so much and have not seen him since Tuesday. Darrick had duty for someone today and they were expecting to see him. Darrick also took the car to work and I think we all just had cabin fever. We were all kind of bored and not sure what to do.

Micah tried riding his bike without training wheels 3 times today. He is getting better but is not quite there yet. He had a few good spills and quit once. I told him the story how Papa (my dad) taught me to ride a bike. And how my dad wouldn't let me give up and I eventually did it.

We also watched Jacob's ultrasound video. If you know Jacob, you know that he sucks his thumb. It is not constant but usually when he is tired. I was so surprised to see him sucking his thumb in my womb. And he was doing it a lot. I have not watched his video since before he was born.

Darrick and I are really trying to foster love and affection in our home. We don't ever want the boys to feel awkward giving us or one another a hug or saying I love you. After we came in the house from Micah's bike riding the boys were taking off their shoes. And Micah says to Jacob "I love you Jacob!" and Jacob responds, "I love you brother!" and then they hugged. My heart just swelled at that moment. I really love watching the dynamics between them as siblings. It can be challenging since they are only 2 years apart but it can also be so rewarding! They do everything together because they are so close in age they are interested in the same things. They have their not so good moments too, but I really look forward to watching their relationship grow closer as they grow older.

Date Night!

Tonight Darrick and I had date night. Our neighbor Margaret watched the boys for us since we watched her daughter last week while her and her husband went out.

Since Darrick pulled in tonight, I picked Darrick up from the ship. From there we went to dinner at Denny's. It was so nice to talk and just enjoy one another's company.

Next we went to the movies to see Star Wars III. First of all I was really excited because they showed a preview for a remake of the movie "The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe". Growing up we use to watch a version of it on PBS and I had read the book. This new updated version look amazing and comes out in the winter!

We both loved Star Wars III. As Christians it really hit home for us what can happen when we allow evil in our lives. It starts small and before we know it, it destroys who we are and hurts others around us. We loved how well it was written so that the three new episodes give background to the original three.

If you are a Star Wars fan and have not seen it yet we highly recommend it-and if you cry at movies you better bring some kleenex!

Enjoying life...

I am really enjoying the ages the boys are at-for those you you who don't know they are 4 and 2. Things are getting easier.

I enjoy sitting down to dinner with the boys and hearing what they have to say. Then after dinner we went for a walk. Micah rode his bike and I pushed Jacob in the stroller. It was such a beautiful evening. The temperature was perfect and the sky was beautiful. The scent of Plumeria was floating on the wind. All the plumeria trees are in full bloom and they are so beautiful and smell divine.

We walked down to the water and watched the crabs. The boys threw rocks into the water. Then we walked back home. We were gone about an hour- and it was just right. I felt so at peace and content. The sun starting setting and the sky turned a beautiful shade of pink.

I having have been working on trying to relax more and chill as Darrick would say. To just enjoy life and my boys. To let the schedule bend a little and allow time to watch the crabs and smell the flowers, to read more bedtime stories and listen to all Micah's ideas. To hold Jacob when he comes up to me and says "Hold me!" and to take more time to pray.

I think the boys have noticed my change to. They do not argue as much and laugh a lot more. Throughout the day they say "I love you mom" and give me a hug or a kiss. These moments are priceless...

Our backyard

Tonight I was so happy with our new backyard setup. While I was making dinner the boys played outside the whole time. For those of you who are not parents, dinner time is one of the most difficult times of the day. The kids are tired and hungry and you are trying to get dinner together-it is very stressful. But tonight was so different, I just did my thing in the kitchen and I could hear the boys playing so nicely. It was a lifesaver.

We are all pretty tired since we brought Darrick to the ship this morning. They will be out to sea for a few days this week. Only one more out to sea time next week and then Darrick will be home all summer because the ship will be in the yeards!!!

We forgot to say that the Hopper soccer team has made it to the finals! We will see what happens!

Frogs love us!

We had a busy but good day today. The boys and I ran a lot of errands this morning. This afternoon we worked on setting up our backyard. Since the boys are getting older they are able to play without me right next to them at all times. So I thought I would set up the backyard so they can play out there. We dragged Tuggy from the frontyard to the back as well as the picnic table and other outdoor toys. We put a canopy up to give shade and a relaxing chair for me to sit in. Tonight we went to Walmart and I bought a red impatients plant to set by my chair. We are very pleased with the set up.

This morning when we went to water our pumpkin plants we noticed a few big holes in the dirt. I couldn't think what they were from. Upon further investigation and some moving of the pumpkin leaves we discovered that a frog has decided to make our box his new home. He seemed quite content buried in the dirt and hiding under the leaves. We posted his picture below.

Tonight when I went to put my new plant in the backyard I counted 5 frogs jumping around. When I walked around they would jump smack into our fence and fall down-it was pretty funny. For some reason they love our yard, and we actually love having them there!

Cozy in his new home