Hale Koa

Saturday afternoon we took the boys to one of their favorite places-the Hale Koa Pool! It was not very busy since the tourist season is over and the pool was nice and warm. We all had so much fun in the water and the boys practiced their cannon balls. We had some ice cream to finish off the afternoon and we went home tired and happy!

What did you just say?

Yesterday the boys and I were in the grocery store. To help them not be bored, they each brought an action figure. I turned away from them to get something of the shelf and I hear Micah say, "Hey, let go of my testicles! Let go of my testicles!" It was really loud so I know I was not the only one who heard. I turn around and ask Micah, "What did you just say?" And he said, "Testicles. You know Mom, like on a octopus!"

I replied in a quieter voice, "I think you mean tenticles."

"Oh!" he said.

I was pretty embarrassed...

Our Saturday Project

Darrick had duty today so it was just me and the boys. We ran a lot of errands but we also had a fun project.



First, we bought a fountain. Then I let the boys pick out different plants. They picked a purple orchid, a white orchid, a polka dot plant, a mint plant, a yellow lily and 2 venus fly traps. We had fun putting the plants into pots and then the boys got to water them all with their watering cans. It looks really nice and the fountain is very relaxing.

Open House at IPES

Last night from 6pm-8pm was Open House at the boys' school. They were especially excited for Darrick to come because last year he was still deployed for the Open House and he was out to sea this year for the first day of school so he had not yet met their teachers or seen their classrooms.

The evening started off in the cafeteria with a talk from the principal, Mrs. Armstrong.

Our first stop was Jacob's classroom. He was very proud to show us a book he made on the colors and his own "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" tree.

Our second stop was Micah's classroom. He showed us his story that he wrote about his Uncle's wedding and his family crest he made.

Next was a scavenger hunt. Each student got a pink card that had different places that they had to take their parents to. Once we were there, they got a stamp on their card. Today they will turn in their full card in exchange for an ice pop at lunch. We went to the cafeteria, library, office, playground, computer room, PE room, health room and music room!

After that we made a stop at Mrs. Gutierrez' room, who is Micah's GT teacher. We were very surprised to see that each GT student had their own lap top to work on while in her class. They are learning how to do a program on the Internet called KID BIZ. Where they read articles on current events and answer questions. The cool thing about the program is that it adapts to their personal reading level and they can do it from home too!

It was a fun night and Darrick was very impressed with everything he saw!

Bye Mantis!

Yesterday morning before school we let Mantis (that is what the boys named him, they got the name from Kung Fu Panda) go back into nature. Mantis had a good day at kindergarten the day before with Jacob and the kids liked him. We set him free on the bushes outside of our house. A few hours later he was gone.

We also lost power again last night. They told us that a bird flew into an exposed wire and blew the transformer. It was not out as long, only about 3 hours. So we went to Chili's for dinner with Darrick's birthday money, thanks dad and mom! By the time we got back home it was back on.

Lights Out!

Last night at about 4:30 pm we lost power...so much for cooking dinner. Plus we lost our TV, Internet and phone since they are all connected together.

So we grabbed a bite to eat at Taco Bell and then went to Beth and Oscar's to hang out.

Today Jacob wanted to take the praying mantis to school to show his class. Hopefully that is going well.

This morning I attended a meeting for parents of Iroquois Point Elementary School. It was about the new International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program the school is putting into practice. It is about a 2 year process to get it all going. It teaches students differently to prepare them for the world ahead. There is one private school on Oahu, Le Jardin, that has the program and IPES will be the first public school. You can find these schools all over the world and they all teach the same principles and it goes through High school. One thing they are implementing is Spanish starting at the 2nd grade level, the parents voted on which language. It is all very interesting. It's just another reason we LOVE this school!

Highlights of our weekend

We didn't see Darrick much this weekend because of work so the boys and I kept busy!

1. Friday night we went to minichurch. The group is going through "Marriage on the Rock". We went through it once before, but it is different with a different group. We all laughed so hard through this lesson on intimate issues my side started hurting!
2. Saturday morning I took the boys out for pancakes at McDonalds!
3. Later that morning we went to the Kapolei Library's 4th anniversary and book sale. We picked up quite a few books, which were 2 for $1.00 for kids books!
4. To celebrate the anniversary the Royal Hawaiian Band gave a performance in the library. Micah had a hard time getting over the fact that they were playing in the library because it is supposed to be quiet in the library. It was a great performance, plus they had singers and a hula dancer. The boys especially liked when they played the Olympics Anthem and Sponge Bob Square Pants!
5. Saturday afternoon the boys caught a praying mantis. We put it in a bug home so they could watch it. They fed it a cockroach and the praying mantis bit the cockroaches head off. The boys loved it.
6. Sunday early evening I took the boys to Sharkey Theater. We had not seen Wall-e yet and the boys really wanted to and this was the last showing at Sharkey. For $10.00 we all got tickets, popcorn, drinks and candy-you can't beat the price! We all loved the movie and I even got teary eyed.

The newest additions

On Thursdays I have a Bible Study at my house for Moms. We meet every week for a few hours. While the kids play we go through a study called "The power of a positive Mom".

Within the last few months are group has grown by two. We all love taking turns holding and loving the two new little ones.

Yesterday we took a picture of Beth with Ezekiel and Jennifer with Lainey. Lainey is 3 months and Zek is almost 2 months. They are such little blessings.

My trip to the ER

Yesterday, my Monday started off like any other Monday, getting up and getting the boys off to school. Except when I woke up I was extremely tired. So after I brought the boys to school I laid down and fell asleep. I woke up 4 hours later and my stomach hurt.

I thought it was gas. Throughout the day it got increasingly worse. Darrick had duty so I picked up the boys from school and helped them with their homework. Around dinner time the pain was so bad I couldn't lay down or sit. I was getting scared because it hurt so bad.

I could hardly stand it anymore so I called Darrick on the ship and asked him to take me to the ER. Our friend Pat took the boys while Darrick and I waited. It was packed in the ER and I had to wait over two hours. I was in terrible pain and it hurt to sit, stand or walk.

When I finally got in they put an IV in and took blood and gave me pain medication. Then they took me to xray to look at my stomach. When the results from the blood tests and xray came back, everything looked fine and couldn't find anything wrong.

The only thing they did say was that I had a lot of, ummm, stool, in my system. I was not constipated because I had actually gone a few times just that day. They said they thought the stool was causing all my pain which they said happens often to people.

So they sent me home with 10 oz of Magnesium Citrate to drink today. It is used to clean you out. So I have been at home, near the bathroom, all day but starting to fell better!

Darrick's Birthday Party

Yesterday I threw a party to celebrate Darrick's 35th birthday. It was a beautiful day, a little breezy but the sun was shining! I reserved a Pavilion at the Iroquois Point beach. There was plenty for everyone to do with the beach, playground and all the food.

Thanks everyone for coming we had a great time!

Happy Birthday Darrick!

Today Darrick turned the big 35! We didn't do much today because I am throwing him a party tomorrow. But we did take him out for lunch to his favorite place-Dirty Lickins! So ono!

Donut Eating Contest

Today at our Ohana Day at church Micah and Jacob joined in the donut eating contest!

The Girls are growing!

Our guinea pigs, or "the girls" as we often call them, are growing! We have had them about 6 months now and we adore them. Twinkle and Sarah each have their own personality and are so cute. Every time they hear the refrigerator open, they squeak because they know that means fresh vegetables!

Anyways, they are getting bigger and needed more space so today they got a new cage. It is about 2/3 bigger then their old one and they are really enjoying it. They have been exploring and running back and forth. Enjoy your new home girls!

Jacob's First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Jacob's first day of kindergarten! And he and I both did great! I brought him to his class and Mrs. Kouchi was there to greet him. Once he found his seat I kissed him goodbye and I left.



All kindergarten parents were then invited to the BooHoo Breakfast in the library. They served us yummy food and then we were talked to by key school staff. Every table had tissues for the crying parents and they read us "The Kissing Hand" which was also being read to the kindergartners today in their class.



At each seat was this poem called "First Day"


Everyone has a "First Day"
when they feel sad and all alone.
It can be so scary
when you're out on your own.
Take my hankie, dry your tears.
You'll find lots of things to do
and you'll probably make new friends.
I promise we'll be together
when the school day ends.
Here comes the teacher,
blow your nose and be brave.
Come on now wipe your eyes,
this is no way to behave.
"Well, good morning teacher!
I really must beg your pardon.
No, Mommy doesn't always act this way.
But it's my first day of kindergarten!"



When I picked Jacob up he was smiling and anxious to show me what he had done that day. He told me he had fun and made a new friend named Cholie. At lunch he somehow got mixed up and ended up in the wrong class! (Sometimes Jacob doesn't watch where he is going or just goes his own way) His teacher did find him and it didn't seem to phase him at all. And best of all, he wants to go to back tomorrow!

Today our church had Ohana Day after the 11:00 service. All our friends came and we had a blast! There was yummy food, a bounce house, water slide, shave ice, a petting zoo and a donut eating contest.

We also enjoyed a performace by the hip-hop dance team and then some dances by a team visiting from Texas.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday, August 9, was our 11th wedding anniversary. Pat and Carlos took the boys overnight so we went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. There was a super long wait so we just walked around downtown Honolulu.

Tostada Faces

Tonight we had tostadas for dinner and the boys thought it would be fun to arrage their toppings as faces. They both did theirs by themselves and surprisingly Jacob's is the neater looking one on the left. For some reason Micah went crazy making a nose out of cheese...

Check it Out!

I found this cool site where they illustrate stories from the Bible with Legos!

http://www.thebricktestment.com/

Sub Pay

I just got a letter in the mail today that said my sub pay went up! From $147.00 a day to $152.00 a day! Yahoo!

*I am going to sub until we bring our daughter home, then I will be a stay-at-home mom again*

Mrs. Fix-It strikes again

I have never been the handiest person. Growing up with a super fix-it dad and 3 brothers I never fixed anything. I had never even pumped my own gas until I was married and Darrick was gone!

Since Darrick is out to sea often sometimes I get it in my head that I can fix something but alas, it has ended in some pretty big messes. Examples: the time I tried to install 3 mollies into a wall to hang a candle holder, result three huge holes in our wall. The time our rear view mirror fell off in the van and I super glued it into the holder instead of gluing the holder to the window first.

Well today was a beauty. Since I have been rearranging the whole house I have been taking it room by room. Today I was going to conquer the playroom. So after dropping Micah off at school, Jake and I headed upstairs. The door to the room was shut and when I tried to open it, I discovered that it was locked. Hmmmmmm...

First attempt is do wiggle the door knob in hopes that it will somehow unlock itself. That didn't work.

Second attempt is to get a bobby pin, straighten it out and wiggle it around inside the little hole on the door knob. No go.

Third attempt is to push a screw driver in there. Boo.

Fourth attempt and I brilliant idea I had-I'll climb out the boys window across the patio roof and into the playroom. I couldn't even get the screen out of the window.

Fifth attempt, another great idea, I'll unscrew the doorknob. Success, at taking off the door knob! But the bad part was the other side of the door knob fell into the locked room. I could now peek into the room but there was nothing to turn to actually open the door.

Finally admit that I should call the maintenance. When the guy comes he looks at the doorknob and screws on the ground and looks at me (note: he is not smiling).

He wiggles some tools in the door and lets out a big sigh. He then tells me he is going to break the molding around the door. He attempts to do this and then all of the sudden asks me if the window in the playroom is open. I tell him yes. So he gets up, pops the screen out and crosses the patio roof to the open window. He then successfully opens the door.

I clap and cheer and he just looks at me-funny that is the same thing Darrick does.

Our Weekend

We are so happy that we got to spend a whole weekend together!

Friday evening we had movie night complete with popcorn and smoothies. We watched the movie "Holes".

Saturday we went to Bellows Airforce Base for Command Master Chief's sons birthday. The weather was beautiful and the water was so warm. The only bummer was that Darrick got stung on his arm by a jellyfish.

Sunday we went to church and then in the afternoon we went to Sharkey theater to see "Kung Fu Panda". We missed it when it was in the civilian theaters.

This morning Darrick left to go out to sea, Micah went off to school and soon I will be taking Jacob for his kindergarten assessment.

Micah's First Day of 2nd Grade

Yesterday Micah started his first day of school. At the end of first grade Micah was walking by himself to school. We live in a cul-de-sac and in between the houses we have a back gate to the school. But since it was his first day Jacob and I walked him to class.

I took a picture of him in front of our house and then with his teacher. For kindergarten and first I took a picture of him at his desk. But I could tell this year that he didn't like it by the smile he gave me. I felt like he was saying "ok mom, get out of here", so next year I will not take his picture at his desk. I wonder how long he will let me take his picture with his teacher?