Here it comes

It started the other day when Ryenne asked,

"Mom, why does our elf, Berry, have a tag sticking out of his butt?" and then,
"Mom, why do some Santa's have elastic around their ears to hold up the beard and it's too white?"

It's here. Our last Christmas where Ryenne believes in Santa.

I've had a kid with me non-stop so I took them to the sitter's house tonight so I could finish my shopping in peace. I went to Paper Garden so I could find the "perfect" card with Santa on it so that I can write Ryenne a note from Santa for this Christmas. She hasn't asked for anything for herself. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. She asked for children in the Philippines to have the toys instead. So my plan is to write out a beautiful letter from Santa letting her know that the world is a better place because she's in it. (side note, she IS getting gifts too just in case you're wondering) So I was on a quest for the perfect card and I found it! And then I almost cried. Seriously. I had to give myself a pep talk in the middle of the store.... "don't do it Mariah... hold yourself together..."

It's a little sad because Ryenne's delight and joy over Christmas and the magic is everything. The boys just don't understand. They have actually been horribly behaved. I even bought some coal for Kai boy. So sometime after Christmas I'll let Ryenne in on the truth - Santa is real, but he lives inside all of us. His magic lives on in parents and boys and girls to spread the magic of Christmas to all who believe.

Grandie Visit and Iao Valley

Grandie, Ryenne, and the first ornament of Christmas!!

The tree's first ornament!

A visit to the Pono Store on First Friday!

We put the tree up!

This morning we had a Grandie Christmas with all of us. We had such a nice breakfast together followed by presents!

After everyone left, Ryenne lost her 7th tooth!

 It was VERY hot today.  About 87 outside and inside it hit 101 degrees! It was too hot to do anything in the house so me and the kids headed for Iao Valley!

Hanging out on a rock in the swimming hole

Kai is like Mowgli

Such a sweet moment between Ry and Kai. They are so close - it's too cute!

Silly little monkeys!!!

The Good and The Terrible

First the good...

A few more shots from Kona that Peter took. I love these. They perfectly show the personality of three crazy Littles!

And then on Thanksgiving Pickle and Abra were on the mainland and both Koa and Peter had to work 3pm-11pm shifts so we got together for a brunch at the Maui Tropical Plantation. It was so nice to sit down together to ono food and have fun and not have to do dishes!

Uncle Koa, Auntie Kau'i, and our 'Ohana at the Maui Tropical Plantation

Me and my girl!!

That night me and the kids headed off to Napili for the Dagupion Thanksgiving (without Peter and Patrick) and that was tons of fun. Boy were we stuffed!

The next day I got a phone call from Dagmar. Daggie is a really special person. We met her because her daughter, Giuly, had been babysitting our kids. Giuly loved to take the kids to the beach when she watched them. But she became busy with another babysitting job and also wanted to open her own Brazilian Food booth at the Farmers Market. So she introduced us to her mom and Daggie started babysitting for us. Daggie started crying on the phone and sobbed that Giuly had gotten into a car accident on Thanksgiving Day. Her airbag didn't deploy and she passed away. My heart fell into my stomach. I had just spoken to Giuly the day before Turkey Day. We planned to get together for a photo shoot (finally) on Saturday and play at the beach. I had just talked to her. How could she be gone?

I felt helpless - how do I help my friend cope? What can I possibly do? Why did this happen to such a lovely person with so much to offer the world? Giuly had just gotten all the permits approved to open her own food truck. It was her dream! She secured a house rental in Haiku right along Hana Hwy to catch all the tourists. She had huge dreams!! Why? Why? WHY? She was only 25! Why? I've been really struggling with it the past few days. I've been checking on Daggie and will be helping with the memorial on the 7th.

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the kids with Giuly. Why didn't I capture that? I wish I had a tangible piece of her that I could keep. But I'll remember her smile as I visited her food booth for the first time. I'll remember her baking Brazilian cheese bread with the kids. And I will always remember her amazing positive attitude and be thankful that she introduced me to her mom.

So on Saturday the 30th, I decided to take the kids to Nui's to get some flowers and pick up the week's veggies.

I really struggled to be happy, but we ended up getting Thai food and smoothies and the kids had so much fun. Ryenne picked out a beautiful bouquet for Giuly.

Kai spinning around waiting for his smoothie

Cruz being a puppy dog

After we finished at Nui's, we headed down to Camp One to place the flowers on the sand and talk about Giuly. The boys were clueless of course, but me and Ryenne hugged each other and cried. She drew hearts in the sand too.

This is our dear friend, Giuly (Giuliana).

Giuly, we are so happy that you were in our lives, though the time was too short. We watched you follow your dreams and were so incredibly proud of you!!

Rest with Angles, Giuly!!!

Upon getting home and being completely emotional that day, I heard knews of another death. Actor Paul Walker passed on Saturday in a very tragic car accident as well.

Of course he is a celebrity and I didn't know him in person, but I have been entertained for YEARS by his work. From Pleasantville to all the Fast & Furious Movies (I loooooove cars) - we have been entertained. But more than that, Paul Walker was a celebrity who used it for good. He traveled to Chile, Haiti, and the Philippines for charitable events and got his hands dirty helping others. Sadly, he was in a car accident leaving a charity event for typhoon Haiyan relief. What an amazing person - I feel this one. A profound sadness at the loss of this person I didn't personally know. You can read about his foundation Reach Out Worldwide. 

So with all the sadness that I'm feeling right now - the grief and the loss - I'll end saying that I am really looking forward to Deceember's love and light and healing. And to end this post, I'll leave you with some quotes from Paul Walker that I love - the last one being from an interview from his movie, Hours ...

Paul Walker - what a beautiful person inside and outside! 

 "You know, all that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy. Everything else is just sprinkles on the sundae." -- Paul Walker

"My philosophy is: If you can't have fun, there's no sense in doing it." -- Paul Walker

"If one day the speed kills me, do not cry because I was smiling" -- Paul Walker

"You get up and you keep going. You're going to find purpose again. You're going to find a sense of self again. You're going to figure out what's up and what's going on and what's its really all about.” -- Paul Walker

You know, all that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy. Everything else is just sprinkles on the sundae.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/paul_walker.html#dXyHTZCUiRuI9fKj.99

Whirlwind November

November has been a crazy month! I've been working like a madwoman - I have the flat butt to prove it - lots of editing at the computer and TONS of sessions. So grateful for it all. Have put on a little weight this month and I'm really anxious to start working on that and committing more time for my own health - this "rush rush" mentality is not good for me.

I've been trying to take breaks from working at my desk to snuggle the kids on the couch, hang outside, ect.

Squashy, the giant squash. He was a good horse for a couple days.

Kai is obsessed with our new shovel. He loves to dig in the back yard to look for bugs. He's ready for school and I was trying to herd them when I found him in the backyard - his happy place. The whole backyard is covered in such pretty greens I can't bring myself to cut it yet. It looks straight out of a fairy book.

I was asked by UH Maui to come speak to students about photography as a career option. That was pretty cool! About 10 students showed up and had all kinds of questions for me. Tons of fun.

So with all this business, we hadn't made it to the beach in a while. Sunday we went out to Baby Beach, Lahaina - one of our favorite spots for some much needed beach time!

That salt water was just what we needed!!

Earlier this year I had a client hire me for a photo shoot in Kona for a family reunion. They paid for my airfare, but I thought it would be fun to bring the whole family along as the kids have never been to the Big Island. I should have booked a longer stay - we were there for less than 48 hours - but they still had tons of fun.

We took Mokulele Airlines, a little puddle jumper of a plane. Kai was VERY afraid at first and then he loved it. Ryenne and Cruz were champs all the way.

Sugar in Upcountry/Central Maui

Peter's hotel is right down there!

Ryenne has expressed interest in being an airplane pilot and it was very cool that one of our pilots was a woman! Ry got to meet her and get a picture with her. She told Ryenne that it's a really awesome job.

By the time we got the car and got to our hotel in Waikoloa, it was dark already and the kids were hungry. So we did what any family without a chain restaurant does - we went to Macaroni Grill! haha - everyone slept good and we were up the next day to go to Hapuna Beach to play. After the change in scenery, Kai regressed and I should have expected it. You can see he has his hands in his mouth. When this happens, he is having regression issues and it's best to let him adjust to his surroundings.

Took him about 30 minutes by himself to realize he was okay and he joined us in playing.

I wish I had brought our underwater housing because the water was crystal clear! Peter got a couple cute shots of the kids so I'll have to get those from him. While I was doing my photo shoot that evening, he and the kids got to play on the beach until it was dark.

Next time I think we'll try Hilo side so we can go to the volcano. I am really excited to share the other islands with the kids. Our next trip will be to Oahu in May for Aunty Jean's graduation from UH.

The flight back to Maui left at 6:30am and we were up at 4:30 to get everyone up and out to the airport. The kids were troopers and we dropped them off at school when we got back to Maui.

Oh funny story... this is so MAUI. Peter's car needed a safety and two new front tires. He was calling around for prices and he called Goodyear and said he'd bring the car in on Friday since we were leaving for Kona. They said, "Oh! Why don't you just bring in the car, we'll take you to the airport, and you don't have to pay airport parking." So that's what we did! And they came at 7am and picked us up too! How island style is that... pretty awesome.

We had a great Thanksgiving this morning with Uncle Koa and Aunty Kau'i - we went to a brunch at Maui Tropical Plantation. Peter is off to work as is Koa so it was perfect timing. I'm in a food coma and will be heading to Napili in just a bit.

Happy Turkey Day all!

Back Yard Wonderland

We've lived in our house for a month! I promise I won't write this every month (probably at a year!) but it's pretty cool to think how much we feel at home here from the very first day.

The kids are settled into their routines (and let me stress how important routines are!). I feel good knowing that I can tell the kids to go play outside and can feel safe with them playing in our yard. We had some rain recently and the entire backyard is green. I was cooking some really awesome beef stew yesterday and the kids were driving me nuts. So I told them to get the shovel and go play in the backyard. They decided to hunt for beetles and I could hear all the giggles going on. I decided to sneak down for some pictures of them being kids. I want them to remember these moments - of playing outside together as the magic light filters through the clouds. Then coming inside to some homemade food and bubble baths.

This is the magic light that is in our backyard. It's so beautiful!

Doctor's Orders

Last Wednesday was an epic trip to the doctors office for the family. Our Kaiser medical kicked in on the 1st (thank goodness!) so me, Ryenne, and Kai piled in for our annuals.

I have to say, Dr. Williams at Kaiser in the Peds office is fantastic. She listened to me about Kai and recommended he not receive shots (wouldn't have let him anyway but it was nice to know the doc agreed with me!). Kai is a small boy but growing just as he should - no surprises there.

Ryenne had blood tests and her cholesterol is borderline high. Dr. Williams talked to Ry about including more veggies in her diet (she always flat out refuses when I cook) and so since Dr. Williams said "Doctors Orders!" Ry has been FANTASTIC about eating her greens! She has even been eating a side salad with each meal (aside from breakfast) AND came a took a swig of my green juice. She proudly exclaims, "Doctors Orders!" I am so proud of her!

Now that we're getting settled in, I am playing around with cooking again. I kind of lost the desire to cook while I was stressing out and now that things have calmed, I'm back at it in the kitchen. Still miss my gas stove. But... lots of yummy things have been made - shortribs, meatloaf packed with veggies, even got the kids to eat pad thai with salads for dinner last night.

I'm trying to change my habit of asking the kids, "Should we have this or this?" and instead just making what I want to make. If they're hungry, they'll eat it. Kind of excited that this new mentality gives me more freedom and the kids will have to taste more things.

I'm reading the book The Honest Life by Jessica Alba - totally enjoying it. That "Honest" true to you lifestyle is just the way I strive to live. So lots of things in the book I'm just nodding my head YES!

Green Juice Mustasche

The Power of Gratitude

When we moved in, we had no screens on any of the windows. The old frames were all under the house and we knew that we wanted to do the screens justice with the age of the house. We saved, knowing that screens were one of the best gifts we could have for Christmas because Kai has already been stung by a bee that flew into the house, along with moths, geckos, and flies.

We finally had the money saved and our dear friend, Billy, who owns Aloha Screen Doors gave us a really fantastic deal to re-do the original screens. He delivered them today and he and Peter put them up all the way around the house.

Not only that.... but in yesterdays mail was a surprise house-warming gift from someone I love dearly (don't know if she wants to be named publicly) who just saved our Christmas.

So I'm feeling pretty overjoyed and overpowered with gratitude and thankfulness!!

The Electritater

Oh Cruz.... you're so adorable. We don't have screens on any windows yet so when he's playing he drops cars outside. I went out to get his car and this adorable face was looking back at me.

He really wants to go to preschool but I need a couple months to level out our spending (ie: get screens up, buy Christmas gifts, ect) and then I'll be able to enroll him.

When I'm at the computer for too long, he said, "Mommy I wanna nuggle you in your bed." which means he wants snuggles and tickles. Today while I was tickling him he held out his finger and said, "I'm the Electritater" and proceeded to zap me with his finger. It was hilarious!

Pizza Date

We took the kids out to breakfast this morning with Peter and of course I took NO pictures - bad mama. Been working all day on putting away boxes and trying to organize. Peter put up the new toilet paper holder and helped with boxes then headed to work. Before I knew it, it was 5pm and the kids were hungry. I was tired. So decided to take a walk downtown for Pizza. The place was really good and the owner was so nice. Kids had a ball. The sky was on fire on the walk back. Totally diggin this "urban" setting.