I lost my Gale King....

Yikes, it looks like this blog is becoming a yearly post. Oh well, it'll have to be my outlet for a little bit.

I lost my Gale King. Her name was Yvonne and she worked with me. She moved to the UK. I miss her dearly. She was the one I would call everyday to talk about my day. She was my release before I got home. She's the only one that could ever understand and although I'm happy for her and proud of what she's doing, I miss her.

As she would say... Miss you love.

I look 'new'

As we were lying in bed one night Kala'i looks at me and said "Mom, you don't look old, you still look new to me" Love that kid!

I think I'm still annoyed....

I just realized that I'm still annoyed about sugar cookies. One of my girls at work was thoughtful enough to bring cookies to work. They were your oridinary, run of the mill sugar cookies topped with red and green icing shaped as christmas trees. I saw them, and thought, gee that was nice of her, and didn't eat one. They've been in my store packed away and everytime I look at them I'm annoyed that they weren't chocolate cookies. I mean really why bother making a cookie if there's no chocolate in them, what a waste.

I'm sitting here wanting something sweet to eat and I'm thinking of those sugar cookies that are at work, I'm at home, and it's annoying me. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for Frozen Hot Chocolate. I'm telling telling you those cookies are so going into the trash when I get to work.

I inspire myself....

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since March. Anyway.....

Last week when I went to Hilo to pick up the boys from their summer vacation with Grandma and Papa my MIL had a scrapbook out that I had made for her. I must say, I was surprised at how cute it was. Who knew I was so talented.... LOL. At first glance I thought that it was made by someone else.

It was a little 6x6 album half the album was about kazu and the other half was about kala'i. It was a little book about their favorite things. The list included their favorite foods, toys, tv shows, games, people, animals, books and so on. It inspired me to make a current book. So since it's the start of a new school year. I think I'll try to make one every year. Granted, I've only made oh, 3 pages this year, this is a tall task.

I think I've forgotten how important scrapbooking is to me. I recently took my scrapbooks to work to share with a new employee who also scrapbooks. I forgot how much information, quotes and memories that I've missed recording. It really struck me when my co-worker pointed out how much we paid to quarantine the dogs when we moved back to Hawaii. I could honestly say I wouldn't of had remembered otherwise.

So here's to me inspiring me. And all the soon to be future scrapbooks. Cheers!

Back to work....

Sigh, I've been off this week since Tuesday. It's been so nice spending time with the boys and getting to do things around the house that I just haven't had the energy to do.

Target

The first Target in Hawaii opened about a month ago. Since I don't like crowds I waited til the excitement wore down. I forgot about how much more I like Target than Walmart. The picture of Target is mostly for Morgan.... see how much it's changed out there. We also hit the new and peeked in Petco.


Kites:
Kazu made a list of things that he wanted to do during Spring Break. Flying a kite was on the list. It was a nice windy day when we went out. The boys had so much fun.


Zoo:
Not on the list but mom forgot that the Children's Museum closes early, 1pm. So we hit the zoo. It was a great way to get the boys tired. Funny thing is Kala'i said he didn't remember his experience of going to the zoo. It was a nice day. Kala'i said he could swing on the money bars like the monkey's, yes he can. The tiger cubs were out playing. They were cute. Kazu took all the pictures of the animals. He took the picture of the cactus for school. He's writing a paper and wanted to take the photo to school as a part of his project.

Whole Foods:

I want to say they opened their first store in Hawaii about a year ago. I could be wrong. We finally made it out there and love it. It's a far drive but worth it for Duke and I, we love all the fresh produce.

Crafting:

I've also had a little time to make a craft or two. I made something for my desk at work. I'll have to post it when I'm done.

Next Week:

Continue cleaning

Ice Palace

Children's Museum

Leap 'n Lizards

Chuck E Cheese

Beach

Haunama Bay

A doctors appt

Sears maintance on the appliances.... Yikes I need another week vacation.

Bribery... works every time....

Bribery: is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient.

So since we moved into the house almost 2 years ago, Kazu always ends up in bed with me. I've tried the let him cry, threat, take things away and finally gave up. Came to the conclusion, that he'll try and sneak in bed no matter what. At one point, he would just come into the room and sleep on the ground. I got the usual, I'm scared, I think someone's going to get me lines.

Well, why didn't I think to bribe him. Last weekend we were at the mall. We stopped into his all time favorite store, Game Stop. He wanted a game I said no. He asked dad, and dad had the brillant idea: I buy you this game you need to stay in your own bed at night. Voila, no problems since.

Geez, why didn't I think of it sooner?

Lego...

My boys LOVE lego. Kazu in particular is really into lego. I, on the other hand, have a love hate relationship with Lego. I love the fact that it allows the boys to use their imagination to build anything they can think of from a simple airplane to the most complicated space stations. I love all the new cool lego pieces. I love it when they make lego in cool colors. I love that a new set will keep the boys busy for HOURS trying to put it together. Yes, that's my list of loves, I haven't decided if it out weigh's the list of hates.

I hate stepping on lego especially since we have wood and tile floor... OUCH! I hate that a new set costs so much. I also hate when they clog the shower drain. That being said found this cool website called Lego a day. This photo, however, seems too close to home.

Down Memory Lane

Since we've gotten our stuff out of storage it's been a trip down memory lane. This photo was taken in our senior year of high school. Crazy! Yes, it was the 90's. I was a size 0, I had puffy hair, floral print clothes and my waistline was actually at my neck. It is fun though.






We have pictures of friends who we no longer get to see because we have moved. Like this picture of TJ, Blaine and Benji =) friends of ours from Houston.

And as we go through these photot's we're reminded of all the things we did prechildren. Here's a picture of me on Duke's Harley. Don't fear though, I'll spare you of the HOT pictures of me in my swimsuit. Yes, times have changed now I only swim with a full body wet suit... LOL

As I go through these photo's I'm reminded of how much I haven't scrapped. I'm excited to see the photo's that I have to scrap. But most importantly, I'm reminded to keep taking pictures to preserve the memories.

Wow...

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Here's a picture of Kazu blowing out his candles for his birthday last month. Of course, he got help from Kala'i

Here's a picture of kazu feeding the Chinese Lion some money for Chinese New Year. It came into our store, probably because of all the money kazu was giving it... hehehe

Kazu and Kalai on Valentines day, very early of course, since I worked that day. Kazu got a couple of wii games and Kala'i got a walle toy.

Hmmm

It's always interesting to pick up the camera and find photo's on there that the kids took. It's fun to see the world through their eyes. There was a day when there was pictures of the dog's butt, like 15 pictures.

One day we stopped at Ala Moana beach park before an appt. We took these pictures.

Laie point....

During Christmas break the boys went to Hilo with grandma and papa. It was the first time that Duke and I were without kids, since Kazu was born, for an extended amount of time. We missed them terribly and after a few days didn't know what to do with ourselves. One day we drove around the island and hit our favorite spots. Duke also took me to Laie point, I hadn't been there before. We took this picture ....



It reminds me of the ole days when all our pictures were quite boring and didn't include any huge mishaps like Balmex in the hair or chocolate all over the kitchen or toothpaste on the floor.

Tooth Fairy the thief....

Kazu is convinced that since he can't find some of his toys the tooth fairy is coming into our home and stealing his toys. It never dawned on him that he may have misplaced it.

Wanted

Tooth Fairy carrying around some lego, trucks and pens

Kazu....

He's lost quite a few teeth. Poor guy seems like he's missing more teeth than he has. He lost two more since this picture was taken 2 weeks ago

Made these today....

I was off today and went into my scrapbook room for the first time since Aug. I made these little tablets for kazu and kalai. Kazu has been interested in drawing and kalai is learning to write his name. I was inspired from Leah Fung's website. They took literally five minutes to make.

Pictures at the beach....

I took the boys to the beach on Friday after school to take pictures. It was a spur of the moment thing. The only rule was that they could not go in the water.... you can probably guess how that turned out. Here are some pictures. I hope I didn't post the one we plan to use in our Christmas cards.

Baby shower....

We had a little baby shower for Morgan and a little going away thing for Jill who moved to the big island. Here's a picture of us.

This is Jill

It was a cupcake theme of pink and brown. I made the invites, place cards, menu's, games, thank you notes.

This is the diaper cake Reyline made... so cute.

Wedding gifts....

I'm in search of a wedding gift for one of the girls who work with me. She's getting married tomorrow and I do not have a gift. Duke and I would normally give money. However, everyone at work says giving money is bad. I don't know why especially when this girl returns EVERYTHING. She got some hot chocolate from a friend at Williams and Sonoma and returned it to the store when the girl was working. She has no shame. She has asked for money for her wedding and hasn't registered anywhere. Her husband is working in Iraq, private contract, for a year. She is living at home with her parents until he returns for good next year. She doesn't have much room for anything now. That's part of the reason that I was going to give money. Then how much money do you give? I know you're supposed to buy a gift that'll at least cover the amount of your meal at the reception. Duke says that no matter what I get she'll return it and if you give money it's never enough. I have been working with her on a VERY part time basis for the past 2 years and we chat occasionally when we are not at work but we do not hang out or anything. And since I tend to over do it on gifts I'm asking....

So in your experience what is your favorite gift to give at weddings?

Family fun

We had a chance this weekend to go out as a family. We hit a couple of parks where the boys enjoyed playing on the jungle gym. We also made it over to Kaka'ako park where we ending up sliding down the hill with card board boxes. The boys had a blast and made a bunch of new friends. If you haven't ever tried it you should. Find a steep hill, flatten out a cardboard box and slide down the hill. It works best if it's just a little wet. I used to do it a lot as a kid.

Kazu also lost his front tooth. Mom messed up with the tooth fairy again. How was I supposed to know he was going to move beds in the middle of the night. The tooth fairy got the money under the right pillow but didn't take his tooth (she couldn't find it). I explained to kazu I left a note and asked that she leave it so that I could save it. Maybe I'll get it right by the time Kala'i starts to loose his teeth. Does everyone have a school picture where they are missing their front tooth?

We also saw a lot of weddings at the park.

Fruit, Vegetable or Ice Cream

Kala'i loves fruits and vegetables. When we go grocery shopping the kid goes crazy. He picks his own snacks and his choices usually include a carrot, broccolli, apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, strawberries, tomatos, cucumber, watermelon, pineapple, mango (we fight over that one) and lettuce. Yep, believe it or not he always takes a second serving of salad, lettuce and all, at the dinner table. I LOVE IT. On most days he'd rather have a fruit or vegi instead of ice cream or a candy bar. I have no idea how it happened but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. And yes, there will be a scrapbook page about this one.

Kazu on the other hand is another story. He does love some vegi's but nothing like Kala'i.

Oink Oink Oink....

and no I'm not referring to my previous post. Today after picking up Kalai from school we came across 6 wild pigs. They were on the median. I of course stopped to take a picture with my crappy camera phone and no good image. I then get out my digital camera and battery dead. I managed to get these two photo's. It was pretty cool. After watching them for a few minutes we were off to Costco to buy .... bacon of course.

It may be time.... the signs may be there

Sign 1

I get asked at work at least once every other month if I'm pregnant

Sign 2

Talking to a co-worker about the wii and she brings up the wii fit and says "you may want to try it, it looks like good excersie for YOU"

Sign 3

Kala'i on a daily basis says "Mom I love your head, I love your smile and I love your BIG tummy. You are beautiful" I can never decide how to react to those comments, it's sweet but does he have to call it BIG

I guess I've been in denial for the past 3 years 10 months about my weight or more so the last 2 years. I've tried to come up with a witty come back when asked if I'm pregnant I've been calling it baby weight but now that Kala'i is almost 4 it really doesn't fly anymore. In fact at work I got so tired of being asked if I was pregnant when this gay guy asked if I was pregnant I just smiled. He came in a year later and asked how was the birth and asked what I had.

I don't eat large portions and I don't eat a lot of junk food. I know its the exercise that's killing me. The strange thing is that in my mind I'm a lot skinner than I am. I've never had any weight issues infact up until I had kids I was a size 3. Thankfully, I'm still in the single digits as far as clothing is concerned. And its usually when I'm not wearing my hooker height heels that I get asked so lack of a good posture is probably making a difference, hmm does that sound like an excuse?

So what do you ask am I going to do about this? I haven't decided. Finding the time to exercise is the issue. I wake at 5:30am to go to work and get home from work at 6:30p then there's the nightly routine. I'm in bed by 9p. We could do what our friend Stacy and Jake did, get a bow flex, or an exercise bike but at this point I'm not sure even that is going to cut it. I wonder if I could have it sucked out of my gut and put into my boobs... hmmm.

Crazy couple of weeks...

We had a crazy week. My in-laws and Kazu were here the weekend before last. We had a blast with kazu and even managed to go to the water park. We decided to skip the beach due to the influx of jellyfish after the full moon. I wasn't in the mood to pee on my child after a sting. We miss kazu more than he misses us. I think he's heaven in an 8yo package.

Kalai, Duke and I had a nice 4th of July. We cruised around the beaches. Watched all the crazy people try to cram themselves on the littlest of beaches. Then we came home and had BBQ. We had an awesome meal. I think I'm still full.

We also attended my nieces baby shower. It was fun. It was at the beach. I don't get a chance to see them often so it was really nice visiting with them. I especially enjoyed being at the beach as we don't go nearly as often as we'd like to.

I'm working on some invites for a co-worker. It's turning out pretty darn cute! I'll have to post it when I'm done. The missionaries are also coming over for dinner this week. Sounds like BBQ again... LOL. You'd think that's all we ate. I'm actually trying to figure out what to do with all this pasta I bought back from Italy. We don't have any really good recipes except for a REALLY good spaghetti receipe.

Well, I'm off to bed. It's 10pm an hour and a half past my bedtime.

The price of paradise....

I took this picture on the way home from work tonight. I just love paying so much for gas. Duke and I are up to $960 / month for gas for our cars. Hmmmm, wonder if it would be cheaper for me to quit and stay home. At least we aren't on the outer islands. They are paying much more than we are. How much do you pay for gas now?

Going green....

I know it's the 'new' thing to do. Everywhere you go everyone is trying to be green. I appreciate that. I now have resuable shopping bags. Today while searching for Stacy's Y's blog I came across this...

Party Planning

Here's how it works. On June 21st, collect your urine in a handy dandy container of your choosing. Depending on how big your garden is you may want to enlist the help of family and friends. That's the party part. But it is optional for those with a shy bladder.Dilute it with water as per Sharon's instructions above (preferably some sort of grey water - perhaps using your saved shower warmup water) and apply to your garden. Voilà! Then check back here on June 22nd for a full report.

Now that's just nasty. Can you image a garden with the fragrant smell of diluted pee. If I wanted that I'd just let the boys go have at it in the back yard. It certainly would lower my water bill. I think I'll pass on this one. I sure home my neighbor doesn't pick up on this either.

My love of chocolate...

So as some of you may know I seriously LOVE chocolate. I honestly cannot understand why anyone would make a cookie and not put chocolate in it. I mean really! So imagine my excitement when I ran across this....

have to try it. It looks so yummy. Here is the receipe if you are interested....

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell*

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped pecansServe with ice cream (optional)
Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.Recipe from Nestle Classic Recipes, 2003* If using frozen pie shell, use deep dish style and thaw completely. Bake on baking sheet and increase baking time slightly.

An emotional week....

Wow what a week. It started off by the homecoming of one of my coworkers husband. He is in the Navy and has been away for over 6 months. It was such a touching experience to be there. Duke and I have never experienced a homecoming. We were there to take pictures. It was fun.

Kazu left to go to Hilo to spend the summer with his grandparents like he does every summer. It has been hard not having him around. He is so helpful, fun and loving and we miss him so much. Those two experiences topped off with a crazy customer has made this an emotional week.

Kalai and I have been going to the park. Here are some photo's. He's so different from his brother who within a few minutes knows he names of every kid on the jungle gym, Kalai plays nicely but isn't as socialable as big brother. We also went to Waikele to ride the trolley. We had a fun day just the two of us.