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.

Halloween 2013

Halloween was fun!!!

It started on Wednesday when Uncle Nico and Aunty Abra picked up Ryenne to take her to see Ghostbusters at the Iao Theater. She had SO MUCH FUN and said she wasn't even scared. She is getting so big!

Halloween day Ry and Kai got to wear their costumes to school - they thought that was so fun. It's been early release all week (1pm) so after school they were very antsy to go out trick or treating.

Like last year, we decided to go to the mall because it's safe, they don't have to hold our hands too much, and there were a lot of stores participating this year.

Ry was an angel, both of the boys were power rangers, I was princess Ariel on her wedding day, and Peter was a Mama's Fish House valet (LOL).

The wig was SO MUCH FUN.

Making it even more fun, our friends Noah, Dominic and Luke came with us (Noah was also a valet) and we went store to store. Then we all had dinner at Ruby's.

Yesterday was Peter's 38th birthday. It was low-key and so nice he was off. Marissa and Eugene came down for Wailuku 1st Friday with us and we ate yummy food and got to hang out. Hard to believe he's 38, huh? Dude doesn't age!