The Not-So-Funny Dress

Last Thursday was Picture Day at Kezia's school. The morning thereof, I thought I'd share some of my picture-taking knowledge with my five-year-old, explaining that if she wore her sun dress over her pink shirt, it might look funny because the picture will only show the top of the dress. Kezia looked down at her dress and said, "But Mom, I'm not laughing!"

She won that battle.

YES!!! I made it!!!

Well, almost. Eleven hours from now Nate will be back home. I was able to care for the girls and our home and oh so many other things for two weeks while Nate was gone. YES!!! And yet my accomplishment can be likened to the ant who rolls a grain of sand to the bottom of an anthill compared to the thousands of military spouses who care for their children and homes while their spouse is at war thousands of miles away for a year or more, and usually on their second or third deployment. I have always had great admiration for them, and count it an honor to be in the midst of so many of them here, but my appreciation for them just grew tenfold.

But, at the same time, I can't really say to one of them, "Hey! I just survived 2 weeks alone while my husband surfed in California!! Pat me on the back, will ya?!" I'd probably get kicked in the shins instead. So that's why I am telling you.

Admittedly, at times it was a challenge for me, but I am a lot stronger too. And we had some good times too. Like last Sunday when my feet were aching so much I suggested that we have "Spa Day" and we soaked our feet in a hot peppermint bath, gave each other foot massages ("Mom, how much longer do I need to rub your feet?") and paint each others' nails. I wish I had my camera to show off the extra treatment I received, with nail polish dribbled around the tips of my fingers and pink, purple, glittery, and shimmery splotched here and there on my nails themselves. Fancy. The next day Ivy decided one coat just isn't enough for a real lady, and gave herself seven coats on top.

Or that same weekend when we had a North Shore vacation at Nate's parents' place in my favorite place, Haleiwa, while they were on the Big Island. It was sooo nice. I taught a stand up paddle lesson on Friday, then we played at the beach, then I watched TV and folded 1 1/2 hours worth of neglected laundry. And this time, America's Funniest Home Videos was actually funny! And then on Saturday we took an unplanned stop at a friend's house who just got a horse and a cow. Kezia got to milk the cow and the girls got to watch workers clean the horse's shoes. Cool. Then a car wash, then a block party in Waialua, more TV and laundry, and ah yes, the peaceful quiet of Haleiwa... Thank you, Kay and Eric!

And all the other times I felt really blest to have such wonderful daughters who are a lot of fun to be around.

Alive and kickin'

...and I'm HEALTHY!!!

Last November we applied for health insurance and were quite confident that we could obtain the highest rank of life insurance because of all the comments we get when we go to the doctor: ("What?! You don't smoke or drink?" "What?! You're not on any medications?" "What?! You don't have allergies? What?! You still have all ten fingers?" )

But my blood test results showed that I have very high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Not being a red meat eater, hardly eating meat at all, and very few sweets, I was really surprised. I mentioned this to my mom who told me that my dad and all his brothers have high cholesterol. So then I became conscious of all the foods out there that have cholesterol, something I never cared about before. And each time I ate an egg or ice cream, I'd think, "This is going straight to my arteries!"

Well, I FINALLY got a second opinion last week. Again I got a comment from the doctor ("What?! You're not on cholesterol lowering drugs?!") I am totally healthy, with cholesterol and triglyceride levels way into the safe zones. It made me think the previous levels were the result of being pregnant or not being able to fast before the test was done.

Or maybe I should have followed my intuition better when the, like, bubble-blowing blood test girl, like, came over to our, like, house to, like take our blood. She seemed so sloppy with everything she did that in my mind I pictured her in the parking lot afterward, sifting through the blood-filled vials: "Hmm, let's see...let's put this vial here,...and this one there, and, Whoops! We'll just put this label on this one, and..."

First I'll Be a Mother

It's 10:00pm and I am so tired. Why am I still up blogging? Because I'm avoiding the mess in the house that accumulated in only a few short hours. If there is anyone out there that is able to maintain a clean home during the DAY and parent 3 kids PLEASE share your magic tricks with me!

I just spent a wonderful get away weekend at my favorite place, Haleiwa, at my inlaw's while they were on the big island. I took with me plenty of work to do. But all I got done was the folding of laundry-- 2 1/2 hours later!

I often find myself thinking about a poem my mom hung on her wall about a woman whose house was a mess but she was taking care of her kids. It ended, "I want to be a housewife, but first I'll be a mother." Personally, I'd rather be Nate's wife, but mothering is definitely taking priority over spray bottles and dusting. Well, at least during the day. (Why can't guests come over at 10:00 at night?!? (I mean besides this night.))

A Preview of What's to Come

For those of you who have been asking, "Wassup with no posts?!?" this one's for you. We have had a lot of things going on, and I feel like I am grappling for time with the same empty pursuit as trying to capture vapor in my hands. So, sorry, no posts.
Nate left to the mainland on business and took the computer, so I tried to post as many pictures as I could before it got packed away for 2 weeks. Then when I came to post, I realized the majority of them were sideways. So oh well. I'll add them later. Here's just a summary of some of what's been going on, the only order being the order in which I found the pictures. Kezia started soccer and is loving it! Grandma Burgoyne took her out to buy shoes and a ball. She insisted on a pink ball, and she found one! Can you believe this is her first pair of shoes?! Only in Hawaii.




Nate the super dad. Ivy is getting less and less fearful about the water. This is a time a Laniakea, I think after we went camping.


Speaking of being less fearful, Ivy actually ASKED to go out on the surfboard to "the big waves"(at least to a 3 year old) This is her first time I think. She went a second time and was even more courageous, asking to go again and again after riding the white water.

Ok, here's a picture of Ivy's second trip to "the big waves." Ivy has really been blossoming lately. Ever since she FINALLY got potty trained, she's more courageous to do things, has less tantrums, and has a WHOLE lot to say.


Kezia is now 5!! Can you believe it!? Wow. She is so grown up and she is such a sweet girl. How many kids ask their sister if she would like to open the biggest gifts for her? Really probably a whole lot. Kids are great, and I'm glad I have one with a big heart in my family. And now she's in kindergarten!

She insisted on a unicorn pinata for her birthday. I didn't see one in the pinata aisle, and as we were leaving, her eyes caught one on the top shelf on the corner. Here it is getting battered by a three year old. Poor thing.

Lost of loves for baby Elysse. Some of you know that Elysse has been my pain-in-the-neck baby, refusing to sleep for long periods of time and crying a lot for no apparent reason. I already felt like I was already going insane, and she just put me in the express lane to the asylum. So I thought, ok, I'll make it to the reunion in July and then other people can take care of her and I can relax a bit. But she thought it would be a funny trick (though highly appreciated) to calm down once we started our trip. So now I have family members saying, "What do you mean she's a hard baby? She seemed so mellow at the reunion!" If only you knew.... But, letting the past die, she is now a wonderful, cheerful, super curious seven month old. I think a big change in her temperment was her newfound ability to crawl, and now she's going everywhere, pulled like a magnet to small chokeables on the floor. She now has two bottom teeth and her hair is growing.
Ok, even though it's sideways, I had to include this one. Hee-hee! Embarrasingly, it brings back memories.

Ok, so besides that, Nate's been kicking out some really cool products online, one in particular that is doing rather well. He's in San Diego at the ASR trade show. If you want to check out his happenings, I just saw he posted some on his magazine website at www.supsurfmag.com. I just had my first day of Great Beginnings preschool, which I have been doing a lot of prepping for the last two weeks (and last two late nights). I am so grateful for my mother in law and all the times she watched the girls so I could meet my deadline. She is so great and an inspiration to me. So now that that's done, I just might post some more.

Swim lessons

Swimming lessons came to an end at the end of last month. It was so much fun to teach these keiki how to swim and see their excitement for accomplishing something that used to be scary and unknown to them. My favorite day was when all the girls in Kezia's class each rushed to me with something they had learned to do, like swim without floaties or put their face under water or such. I also added something this session: goal setting. It was cool to watch these kids make goals and really try to reach them. Kezia and Ivy (and all the kids) had a great time and learned a lot.

Chillin (I mean steaming) in the hot tub with the swimmers (minus the 2 boys who weren't there that day)

Life moves quickly. It's up to us to slow it down.

And speaking of, we saw the coolest thing in our parking lot the other day: a huge, fat caterpillar that was 4 inches long and a good 1/2 inch across! It was a white lined hornworm that would turn into a sphinx moth -- you know, one of those huge moths bigger than your face. Here's a little video the kiddies might enjoy.

An Empty Wheelchair

The Empty Wheelchair

Last Tuesday there was a man who was pushed in a wheelchair to the beach. He watched the waves. I took my board and went out to enjoy the waves. As I was out there, I saw him again, this time on a board. The man was almost completely paralyzed. He was on a special board and his friend was pushing him into the waves. Each time he caught a wave, his friend whispered, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"