Pumpkinland

Man I missed the Fall when I couldn't have it and now that its here I'm feeling a major load of anxiety about winter, so much so that its hard to enjoy the cool mountain air and beautiful colored leaves. We took the kids to pumpkinland today and had a great time picking out pumpkins. I was hoping that would help but to no avail. My heart and my hair still long for the ocean air. (Rhyming not intended)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALIA!

Why is it that nine months goes by so slowly and yet twelve dissappears in the blink of an eye? It seems just yesterday that the girls and I were sitting on the beach... they building sand castles and splashing in the waves and me in my maternity suit on the shore... timing contractions. Now here we are, freezing, and celebrating our little one's first birthday. Time is strange and unpredictable and we hope we can enjoy each moment we're given.
Happy Birthday Malia! We love you and your fun personality. You have a fun sense of humor and are so sweet. We're so glad you're a part of our family.

jibber jabber

The last month has been full of "end of the school year" stuff. It seems like we had something going on everyday. Haley and Rachel performed with the school band at about 4-5 different events around Oahu, including the 50th State Fair. Lilly just danced in a ballet performance put on by Ballet Hawaii, Isabelle's been shadowing Nana and enjoying the library reading program. Addalie has been cruising along with what she calls "my home school" and is already starting to read and do simple math. She is also learning different countries on our world map. She can point out and name the following countries/continents/states: Canada, Russia, China, Mongolia, Africa, Spain, Iceland, Svalbard (?), Madagascar, Angola, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, India, South Africa, Hawaii, Utah, and Antarctica. I can hardly keep up with her and don't have any idea what I'll do when she's supposed to enter kindergarten but could pass 12th grade. What a handful.
Malia is growing like a weed and just had her first tooth poke through this week. She is army crawling and can get on her knees and rock but can't get the legs to go anywhere. She is a big mommy's girl (shhh... I don't mind), she loves to play with Addie and they have little "jokes" they share and laugh at. She just learned to wave bye-bye and her favorite game is hide and seek. She is so much fun and we love her squishy little face. The girls made her a little "wagon/chair" out of a cardboard box and she loves them to take her outside and pull her around in it. She'll stay there all day if someones giving her a ride and will even fall asleep in it.

We lost a family member this month- Shane decided to go back to the mainland, and now it feels empty. Funny how fast you can adjust to new additions. I'll miss all the "Party in the USA" around here.

The older girls found an old tire by the road and after washing it up and begging Justin to bring home some rope, they rigged their own tire swing and figured out how to tie it to the big tree outside. It was loads of fun until the rope broke. Luckily no one got injured... guess we need better/thicker rope.

The elementary school the kids go to celebrated their 50th May Day this year and all the classes performed dances for the parents and staff. It was a lot of fun to see all the Hawaiian dances and customs portrayed through dance and song. There was even a "royal court" that performed as well.

Haley just finished 6th grade and is sad to leave her favorite/best teacher yet. She's been blessed with some really great ones (especially her 5th grade teacher, haha.. j/k), but this year she had probably one of the greatest teachers in the country. She inspired the kids to be their best and reach their goals and instilled a love of science in all of them. We're sad she won't be there next year to teach Rachel.

Birthdays, beach n' stuff

April is the second craziest month for us due to all the birthdays this month. For Haley's birthday we invited friends over to play games and have heath cake (otherwise known as BTS cake). She is excited to be in YW's and experienced her first YM/YW activity last night where they had an etiquette dinner. She wasn't so crazy about being paired up with one of the boys but the rest was lots of fun. We're not sure how we got a 12 yr. old all of a sudden, it seems like it snuck up on us and we're afraid the next 12 years will go even faster. Haley is an amazing young lady who is self motivated, fun, beautiful, and a great example to her sisters and everyone around her. We love you Haley!

Rachel wanted to have some really crazy brownies for her birthday that are the richest and best things you'll ever eat... recipe courtesy of Pampered Chef. We invited friends over to help us eat them so we wouldn't all gain 10 pounds. When Rachel gave me a list of ideas for what she wanted for her birthday, I wasn't surprised to see 30+ items on there. The best part about the list was that everything was numbered like this..... 1., 1 1/2., 2., 2 1/2.,..... she is so funny. Every 1/2 numbered item said iphone. Needless to say... she didn't get an iphone, but it was a good try anyway. Rachel makes us laugh all the time with her fun sense of humor and always a good prank up her sleeve. She is so inventive and fun to be around. She is working hard at school and loves playing her clarinet. Rachel, we love you!

By the time my birthday came around cake and brownies were at the bottom of my list for birthday desserts. I decided to try a new creme brulee recipe that Shelley gave me. It didn't set up right, so we ended up with chocolate haupia pie, not a bad trade. Justin took the day off work so he and I went on a catamaran ride out of Waikiki. We'd never done anything like that before and we both really liked it. It was so relaxing and beautiful and fun to see a different view of the surfers and waikiki. Justin kept saying how he didn't think he'd felt that relaxed since we've been here. We both got soaked and were glad we gave up the very front seats where we would have been totally drenched. It was a great birthday and probably one of my favorite ones ever.

We've hit the beach a little more lately than we have been, and its been nice. I miss the days when we used to go everyday. Now that we've lived here a while, have more responsibilities, and the girls have a stricter school schedule with homework, we don't go near as often as we'd like. This past weekend we had a great time at a beach west of Hale'iwa where we always get to see turtles. This time we saw close to twenty of them out feeding on the rocks. The kids tried unsuccessfully to get close but at least they got a good look at them through their snorkels.
I've decided to use furlough Fridays as an outside day for the girls so this last one we spent some time at the lagoons in Ko'Olina. It was a beautiful day and we all wished we could have stayed longer, except for Malia who demanded that we go home where she could sleep in her own bed.

We're excited to have Justin's mom and brother staying with us for a while and hope and pray everyday that we don't drive them crazy; afterall, there's a lot of estrogen and hair around here coupled with an overdose of squealing and screaming. Hopefully they'll come out of this without going too looney.

Isabelle's birthday

Isabelle wanted Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast, a picnic lunch and Princess and the Frog after dinner. She also requested an ice cream cake like the one Aunt Shelley helped us make last year and is hoping to get a talking doll and some gum. Belle is so sweet and simple and easy going. She makes everyone smile and is always up for a hug or a snuggle session. She is a great big sister and a patient little sister. We love her so much and can hardly believe she's already 7yrs old. What a cutie.

Addicted to change

The new me, (after many, many hours of getting the old color out). Thanks to Megans aunt Kris for doing a great job and being so patient!

Malia

Malia is four months old today and we've enjoyed every minute of those four months with her. She is really starting to show her personality now, and is spoiled by all of her sisters, which means she likes and prefers constant attention.
We were lucky enough to share her blessing day with our family and friends and we are, once again, forever in Allyson's debt for making such a beautiful dress- and aren't those shoes the cutest things you ever saw?! Thank you Allyson for spending all that time, especially after having your own newborn, making a 6th work of art. Your talent is so amazing and we are so grateful to you for sharing it with us.
Here are just a few pictures of Malia and her dress, it was hard to choose which to share since Katie always does such a gorgeous job- I don't know who I'll ever trust again to take our pictures.

Now what?

The last six months or so have been filled with hoping and planning and exciting events and now that the new year is already almost a 12th over, it leaves me wondering "what now?" There aren't any major holidays, no visitors, no up-coming trips, or big events. So, what do you do when there's nothing going on in paradise? That's when the Lord desides to have a laugh and gives the mother of six girls a calling in CUB SCOUTS! Really. Yes, I'm serious. Cub Scouts. For everyone that thinks I'm clueless about boys, I DID grow up with three brothers, and I actually really like boys, but like a friend of mine said..... I already have my own GIRL scout troop.
Here's to a new adventure, and a new year filled with surprises!

Coming back to Hawaii, we realize more than ever how much we've missed everyone. Its easy to take family and friends forgranted until they're not around anymore. We wish we'd had more time to spend with family and with all our friends. We don't plan on being here too much longer, so for those of you who haven't had the chance to visit, and want to, you'd better make plans quick!
We also want to say thank you, once again, to the two families who were willing to share some sky miles with us so our trip was more affordable. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE you and will never forget it!