Some pictures of the family

Here are some cute shots of the girls taken a week or two ago. My friend Breanne Garcia is studying photography and had generously offered to take some family photos for us. This was way back in July!!! And now I am finally getting around to posting them on our site. So if you are very observant, you may notice a time lapse in the pictures!

Then lately I decided to try something out, just for kicks. I had had modeling recommended to me for my girls several times, but was never really into it. I was really afraid of the vanity issue. But one opportunity fell into my lap and we went for the casting. That's when I started asking people with experience in modeling about it, and it got me more interested. What I learned is that it's a great way to help save up for college and it's enjoyable for the kids and a confidence booster. So then I was excited that Kezia got call backs the beginning of this month, the same day we were told we had to move. I guess I was overwhelmed by everything, and in the end missed the call back. Bummer. But it got me motivated to do something about it, so I sent some pics to some agencies. They were interested but wanted more shots, so I asked Breanne to take some more. Still haven't heard anything, and if anyone has any experience with the modeling world, and have some advice, please let me know!

Kept me laughing for a whole day :

What are they doing on the 30th?!??!

Dinosaurs

A long awaited trip, we finally made it to the dinosaur exhibit at the Bishop Museum this last week. The dinosaurs were robotic and would move and roar. It proved too scary for Kezia. Funny thing was, Elysse was pointing to the dinosaurs and saying, "Baby!" Looks like she's a fearless one.

Halloween

Carving the pumpkins...they lasted maybe a day before turning black with mold.




Halloween was a blast. The girls had their outfits set...until their friend brought over new dress ups Friday morning...then suddenly their plans changed.




We hit 2 trunk or treats on Friday night, then had a spooky dinner with Kay and friends on Saturday night, then a bit of traditional (yeah!) trick or treating. We threw together a quick outfit for Elysse who was Encarnacion to match her side kick Nacho Libre. They looked so funny!



Can you spot the spooky foods in the dinner? (ghost rolls, witch fingers, jack-o-lantern fruit cups, green rice, swamp juice, pumpkin soup in jack-o-lantern, chicken with the bones still in it (that can be scary, right?) oh, and what's that in the pot? That's our friends' "vomit" dish -- watery chili with hot dogs. Scary and gross.)


Ivy informed me that her friend told her about a certain Candy Witch that comes to your house after Halloween and gives you a gift in return for your candy. We had never heard of her before, but we thought we'd give it a try, and guess what?!? She came! She even brought 1/2 off Halloween paraphernalia! However, Elysse found Kezia's secret stash of candy just after waking up in the morning. A disappointed Ivy caught her 1/2 way through her findings.

Ivy's comment of the day

"When she's naked, I like Elysse better than you, Mom."

And here's one from a few weeks ago. Kezia was talking to Ivy and getting frustrated that Ivy wasn't responding. Ivy was goofing off bending over with her bum in the air. In a "talk to the hand" fashion, Ivy said, "Kezia, talk to the bum bum."

Again?!?!

Yup, we're moving. Again. In the middle of the holidays. Again. Apparently our landlord is not able to stay in his home so he needs to move into our place. So we get the boot!

We are going to move into Nate's parents' home in Haleiwa. Kay lives on the boat during the week so we won't be too much in the way...hopefully. Still, I have loads of concerns about it and the daunting task of packing up the house makes me want to just sit here at the computer and post about it instead of pack.

But we are so grateful that this will be easier than our last move. Hey, we haven't even found the time this year to put up all our pictures! And we have plenty of things in storage or in boxes still, too! Plus the last move took 5 months to complete and was bubbling over with stress. So anything would be easier than that!

But we will miss this home. We've LOVED it here!! A playground and beach within walking distance, a backyard, view of the ocean, friendly neighbors, families everywhere, block parties, bike trail, etc.

We have 2 1/2 weeks. Wish us luck. And please add us to your prayers and thoughts. We could use it. Thanks.

Why I Love Four Year Olds:

Because you can still catch them sleeping in the same position they did when they were babies.

Because you can still catch them sleeping in the same position they did when they were babies.

And because they sing while on the potty (I voted for no picture on this one)

And because they find it fun (and comfortable) to sleep inside the toy bin.

And because they collect dirt in a bag and sign it.

At the beach

Here are some cool pics the videographer took while we were at the beach. Ah, the difference a good camera will do!

Beach Bums

Furlough Fridays

The State of Hawaii is sacrificing the education of their children to help alleviate the state's deficit problem. Do you see any irony in this? They have introduced Furlough Fridays, 17 Fridays randomly placed throughout the year where no one goes to school so the state doesn't have to pay the teachers and staff. The first one was this last Friday.

My mom always said if you see something that needs to be done, do it. Although I think it's a shameful decision on the part of the state, I saw a great opportunity in this to get a group of Kezia and Ivy's friends together. So a friend of mine and I started Furlough Friday Art Fests. We have 12 kids now. Last week we did Halloween crafts. (I got almost all our quick and easy ideas from www.familyfun.go.com. )This week we are doing Halloween foods. Any ideas?

Homeschool

Well, I finally did it. It’s been on my mind since before Kezia began school, and it was something I thought I would never do. I’m not the “type”, I’m too busy, and I’m not really that interested, to tell you the truth.

But I felt like it was needful for Kezia, me, and our family, so after 3+ years of being prompted, I finally went with it. I’m homeschooling Kezia (and Ivy). I’m considering doing this for just this year. So far, it is great, and it is meeting the needs that I saw we lacked.

Since Kezia was a baby, I felt like she needed a close relationship with her parents. And since before Elysse was born, I felt like I had a hard time bonding with her. So much junk was going on in our lives and I felt like she was kind of pushed aside. Then came full-time kindergarten and homework and naptime and yada yada.

For years I went back and forth on my decision. I felt like I should pull her from school and be determined to do so, and as soon as I made a “firm” decision, something would pull me toward public school and I’d stay where we were, and then I felt like I should homeschool, and so on and so on for 2 years!!!

I observed many homeschooling families and asked a ton of questions. Here is what I learned about homeschooling: 1. Wacko homeschooling parents create wacko kids; down to earth homeschooling parents create mellow kids. Hopefully we fall in the 2nd category. 2. Except for the wacko ones, in general homeschooled children appear to be more at peace; they are able to speak using eye contact more than public school children, and they seem more genuinely happy. 3. Without exception, homeschooling parents say they feel very close to their children and are happy with the decision they made. These are the things I was looking for: mellow peaceful children and a better bond with Kezia.

So finally, I was tired of my wishy-washy mind and decided I’ll just go for it. I might fall flat on my face, or I might find out this was just a wisp of a crazy idea, or this might convince me once and for all that homeschooling is not for me, or I may find the reason I felt I should do this. Either way, I conjured up the courage and pulled her from school.

And you know what? Things are working beautifully. For me, I notice that I’m not so on edge because I don’t have this feeling bugging me to homeschool (or not to homeschool?). I spend more 1-1 time with Kezia and with Ivy (Our mornings are dedicated to schoolwork), I’m a lot slower at the things I do. I now have the time to bond and get to know my daughter instead of just nag (“Hurry, let’s get to school”, “Let’s focus on homework”, “Get ready for bed” “Go to sleep so we can hurry tomorrow.”) I noticed the other day that I no longer walk on the balls of my feet, ready to hurry through life, but I stand back a bit more, more on the center of my feet.

The last few nights, Kezia has thanked Heavenly Father for the ground in her prayers, and I have to agree, feeling the ground beneath my feet again does feel good.

For Kezia, she seems a lot more at peace. We no longer have the problem of attitude or talking back (which I think might have come from the way her teacher speaks to her students), I can tell she feels more bonded with her mom, and she is progressing in the basics of education that I feel she missed in public school. For instance, she never learned how to write properly because she missed those lessons when we transferred schools. Before when I questioned her sloppy work, she’d say her teacher accepts sloppy work (who wouldn’t with 20+ kids to care for?). So we have been focusing on quality of work too. I am able to teach her reading and math at her level and skip the “busy work” assignments that she had for homework at school.


It’s been a lot of fun, especially our observations that we do. We go outside and find a bug or a plant and if possible, put it in our magnifying glass and observe. I teach the girls facts about it from what I learn on Wikipedia, and the girls draw it and Kezia writes about it. We’ve learned some pretty cool stuff, like did you know that wood lice (roly poly bugs) have gills, not lungs, and that some species have returned to water? And that if a house fly is small, it does not mean it’s a young house fly; it’s just smaller because it didn’t have enough to eat when it was a larvae? And that the seeds of the beach plant, naupaka, germinate best if they’ve floated in salt water for 250 days? Pretty cool, huh?

So there you have it. This will be week 3, and I am awaiting the day when the novelty runs off and I actually have to motivate the girls to do school. So far, that day hasn’t come and I feel lucky and blessed. If you have any experience homeschooling, I'm all ears, cause I'm no expert! Pass along the advice!