Arriving in Paradise

Our day was long, but it was all worth it once we arrived in Kaua'i.

We woke up at 5am (at a hotel near the airport). The girls were great on the plane. Every 10 minutes O wanted to look out the window. She took a nice nap on the plane. Hawaiian Airlines is fantastic. We received three drinks, a snack and a meal (all included!).

Our condo is beautiful. 1800 square feet (larger than our house).

Daddy making dinner on our first night.

Great Room - living room, dinning room, kitchen

There is a den and bathroom behind kitchen

Kitchen and Dinning Room

This is a view from the front door. Go up to the Great Room and down to the bedrooms, laundry and garage

from front door going down to bedrooms. There is a desk here in this space with the phone and Internet hook up.

Our bedroom with bathroom

The girls room. They also have their own bathroom, which they love. O still comes to wake me up at 2am when she goes pee! She said she didn't' want me to worry where she was if I came to check on them. So sweet, but I'm ASLEEP AT 2AM!

The girls decorating the condo for Easter. Thank you Aunt C! The first thing the girls did when we got to the condo was make these foam Easter eggs. Now we are ready.

Sunset from our balcony (off the Great Room) on our first night.

The beautiful view from our condo balcony!

A few flowers growing near the condo.

Not a great shot, but this little guy comes to visit every day. He is just beautiful. He usually arrives on the balcony when I DON'T have my camera. I'm hoping to get a better shot before the end of our trip. We'll see how I do.

The other thing I promise to get pictures of are chickens and roosters. Yes, chickens and roosters. They are all over the island. It's the funniest thing.

We are having a great time. As I post this we have done family portraits on the beach and a Lu'au. I'll be posting Lu'au pictures later today (it's about 8:40am our time right now).

It has been about 74˚ and raining most of the time since we arrived. O keeps asking me where the sun is. It comes out here and there. Yesterday as we were out exploring it just started pouring!

Well, better get ready for our day. Check in again. I'm hoping to be able to sit and add another post tonight.

Hattitude

"...there's a little more strut in your carriage when you

wear a nice hat. There's something special about you." 

CROWNS: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats

by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry

Last weekend my mother took the girls and I to the theatre. We saw Crowns. It was absolutely wonderful!

This wonderful musical is adapted from the book CROWNS: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats, by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry.

I love hats. Now I want to read the book. I have several hats I've collected over the years. I wish I had worn one to the theatre last weekend.

When I told the girls I had fancy hats like they wore in the musical they got very excited. Today we finally were able to sit and look through my collection.

The girls had a great time trying them on. I should really start wearing my hats again. After all there is nothing like Hattitude!

click on the image to enlarge

How do you spell fun?

O: "How do you spell fun?"

Mommy: "How do you spell fun?"

O: "F?"

Mommy: "Yes, what next?"

O: "Un?"

Mommy: "Yes, F and Un spell fun."

CK's Field Trip Adventure

posted by CK

Last week I went to the theatre to see the Junie B. Jones play. On the way home a city truck crashed our school bus mirror, but it did not stop. We pulled into a truck repair center. The bus driver had to call her boss. Her boss said we couldn't drive with the mirror broken. We waited for 2 hours for the second bus. We went home on that bus.

While we were on the bus we watched a movie on the TVs, we talked, and played hand games. We did not get to eat our lunch until last recess (about 2pm). We did not have our lunches on the bus.

I did feel a little scared, but I got over it because my friends were helping me.

It was an awesome field trip. 

Field Trip

Yesterday I was one of the chaperones on CK's 2nd Grade field trip. What a fun day. Because CK is in a 2nd/3rd Grade combo class I was only in charge of two kids! Lucky me. The parents in the other classes had five kids each.

The kids all had a great time. CK has been there many times, but it was her friends first time at the Aquarium. Here are just a few photographs I took.

Sea Dragon

Sea Otter

It rained all day, especially hard when they were feeding the Sea Otters. I thought I would go with the fact it was hard to focus on the Sea Otter behind the wet glass. 

Sea Anemone

Jellyfish

Bird Watching

Tide Pool

Pierced Ears for Our Little Lady

CK has wanted her ears pierced for a few years. I had told her she could get them pierced for her 1st Communion. I can't believe that time has come.

Keeping true to my promise we went to the mall today to get her ears pierced. She picked out these very pretty 14k gold, 3mm ball earrings. Just beautiful!

She did great! A little nervous, but didn't move a muscle or shed one tear.

O, on the other hand, waved her hands around stating, "I don't want my ears pierced." I made sure to tell her it was her choice. When she was ready she could get her ears pierced for her 1st Communion or after.

Science Becomes Art

Last night we went to science night at school.

This year's topic was experimenting with chromatography by

watching the effects of rubbing alcohol on permanent marker.

We came home with some beautiful t-shirts.

I have a feeling we will be doing this at home.

What a great hour. Science is so fun!

Bride Birthday Party

I always ask the girls what theme they want for their birthday parties. I don't go overboard with my themes. I do a light theme....cake, plates, napkins, goodie bags, and usually a craft project. Simple things. 

Six to eight months ago O told me she wanted a "bride birthday party." I knew she wanted a Barbie cake. I had made one for CK several years ago and O wanted one too. Okay, I can do that, but a "bride birthday party." Ookaaay....

I planned on making a bride barbie doll cake. I took O out to find things for the goodie bags. We found bubbles and "engagement rings." (What's a bride without an engagement ring.) O picked out "bridal" napkins and plates (pink with "I Do" on the dessert napkins and hearts and a ring on the plates and lunch napkins) they are very cute.

A few nights before the party O woke up very worried, "Mommy, what am I going to wear for my Bride party?!" Oh boy, is this a girlie girl or what? I reassured her that we would find something. I would buy her something new.

That day we were out getting things for her party and I told O we would buy her a dress for her party. I was thinking of a simple dress. Something she could wear to school. She

needs clothes for Spring. Noooo, it had to be a "bride dress." Are you kidding me?!

"You want to dress like a bride?" I asked

O responds with a big smile, "Yes."

Oh great! Now I'm searching for a wedding dress for my 6 year old. There is something wrong with this. We find one (on sale-thank goodness) at Sears with the Easter dresses. Perfect. I told her she could wear it for Easter too. She loved it and was happy about having a date to wear it again. Not too many brides can say that.

It was a wonderful party. The birthday girl had a wonderful day and that's what's most important! 

The Barbie doll bride cake I made.

The happy "bride" Can't forget about Ken. He had to be with Barbie.

The shy "bride" as everyone sang "Happy Birthday."

The Best Thing...

I did was to not put any toys back downstairs and only have some books and all the girls board games. The girls have sat and read or played a board game every day since I put the bookcase back in the family room. It's been great.

The girls don't miss not having any toys downstairs. They play with their toys in their room anyway. After three and a half months with the house upside down, that was the only place they had to play.

Last weekend, my sister was in town with her daughter and my nephew. After dinner the kids sat and played board games. They had a great time. I loved seeing them play some of the wonderful board games we have.

Happy Valentine's Day - Our Sweet Day

My day started with these beautiful tulips and a heart shaped boxed of chocolates by my bed. They're bulbs, so I'll be able to plant them in the yard.

C made his three girls pancakes with Nutella for breakfast. I then made homemade Sticky Buns for...well, lunch. We had apples for afternoon snack, so that made me feel better. These Sticky Buns were wonderful! I got the recipe from my friend who put them on her blog. I'm also posting it on my BMCC blog. It's too good not too.

C and I gave the girls chocolate covered fortune cookies for their Valentine's Day treat. Do you think they enjoyed them?

Date night for me and my beloved tonight. It should be a romantic dinner and walk in the rain. I can't wait.

Happy Valentine's Day!

6 Years Old!

My baby is 6 years old today! Not such a baby anymore, Miss O is a big Kindergartner. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday she was born. My surprise baby. I'll never forget the day I found out I was pregnant with O and told C. He didn't believe me. Who would. After all, we had a 6 month old at the time, which took us 5 years to conceive. 

We are so glad God surprised us with our second daughter. What a true blessing she is. My big girl is always happy. She always makes me laugh and knows how to cheer me up. She is the sweetest, kindest and most caring person. Always thinking of others, especially her best friend, big sister CK. 

Happy Birthday My Valentine Baby!

Slowly, but Surely

I am so excited. I emptied 4 boxes from the garage today! Boxes of games, cookbooks and the girls books. They all went into the bookcase we brought back into the house.

I'm excited to start planning my weekly dinner menus now that I have all my cookbooks back in the house. I haven't wanted to plan anything with everything in boxes in the garage.

I wasn't the only one excited about the bookshelf being back in the family room. The girls love our new reading corner. I have a feeling I'm going to have to redo the girls reading corner on the landing of the stairs.

A Few After Pics

We are not completely finished yet, but I'm starting to get threats if I don't post a few after shots of our floor.

We still need area rugs in the living room and family room, I haven't hung any photographs back up, and we need window treatment. You'll notice I've got temporary blinds up in the living room. Just lovely. There is also still furniture in the garage that I need to move back in and/or get rid of. I'm hoping to get the garage emptied soon. I really miss parking the car in there.

We love our new floor. It's so beautiful. I love how the entire first floor is the same flooring. It makes the house look bigger. 

Ever since we moved the recliner/rocker, that CK is sitting in, to the family room (from our bedroom-I used it when both girls were babies) C refers to it as "mommy's chair." He has sat in it only once in the past 2 months. The girls love it. CK reads in it every night. Often O joins her. It's a great chair and I'm so glad we never got rid of it. I absolutely love it in the family room. I do need the bookcase back in the family room too. Yikes....

I would like to get some type of small coffee table for both the family room and the living room. It would make a big difference. There is not much room in the family room, so it might be hard to find something the right size. I'll have to do some shopping....darn.

A few weeks ago C spent his weekend painting the front window. It looks fantastic! We love the new windows. I can't wait to be able to do the rest of the house. No mutton bars!

If you would like to see a few before pictures go to these past blog posts:

Our Busy Weekend (scroll to the bottom of the post)

Demo of Front Window

13 Years Ago Today

It has been the best 13 years.

I can't believe it's been 13 years.

I am so blessed to say this man is my husband.

I love you honey!

First Sleepover

Giggles, movies, late nights, and just a few tears from little sister.

This weekend was CK's first sleepover. Her and her good friend KP had two sleepovers. One at KP's house and one at our house. CK had a hard decision. She wanted to go to her friends alone, but didn't want to hurt her sister's feelings. (O had been invited to join them.) I told CK not to worry about O, we would talk to her and daddy and I would have a fun night planned for her. I could understand how CK felt. I wanted her to make the decision based on what she wanted. Even though I didn't want to see my baby upset because she would miss her big sister terribly. I knew it would be so hard on O, but so good for both of them.

I sat and talked with O a few nights ago. She took the news of her sister going on a sleepover at their friends very well. A little upset, but I think she understood. CK was very surprised.

C and I were prepared for a very long night of crying and tears with O on Friday night. We dropped CK off at her friends and we took O out to dinner, shopping at the mall, and Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. O had won a gift card at school and was excited to use it. I told O she could have anything she wanted. She didn't have to share tonight. She was going to have mommy and daddy all to herself. Oh, the smiles. O quickly learned how fun it would be that big sister was off with a friend. It was hard for her, but O was strong and we had so much fun shopping. She even picked out a book and nightgown for her big sister. So sweet! Always thinking of others.

After shopping we went to Cold Stone Creamery so O could use her gift card. She wanted chocolate ice cream. Good choice. I explained she could pick a topping to get mixed into her ice cream. She took a quick glance at all the jars behind the glass. She did a double take at the Gummie Bears. Yep, that was a jar of Gummie Bears! "Gummie Bears" she said with a big smile. Okay.

Here she is eating her Gummie Bear ice cream. Turned out not to be that great of an idea. If you don't eat all the Gummie Bears right away they get too hard to eat. She still enjoyed it.

When we got home O got to pick out the movie she wanted to watch...Cinderella II. I cuddled with my baby (well big girl now) we watched the movie together while daddy sat nearby on the computer. I read her a bedtime story and she was a sleep....without a tear. (I probably tired her out it was about 9:30pm.) I am so very proud of her. So strong, such a big girl.

CK had a great time at KP's house. They played, watched movies and stayed up late. CK didn't want to leave.

Tonight it was KP's turn to spend the night at our house. The three girls had a great time. We made pizza, they watched a movie and they played for hours in the girls room. As they listened to a book on CD (as they fell asleep) it put a smile on my face to hear the giggles coming from the bedroom.

eating jello while watching a movie.

girls and horses....Thanks to Auntie D there is plenty to go around.

What a wonderful weekend of memories. I'm sure this is only the first of many sleepovers.

Happy New Year!

I must admit, I don't know a lot about Chinese New Year. Wanting to learn more, I looked it up on the web.

There are many traditions on what to say, what not to say, what to wear, what to do, what not to do during the New Year celebration or at least on New Years Day. Many taboos and superstitions. The celebration, I have learned is 15 days long.

I haven't done very well, but I didn't know any better. That's gotta count for something....right?

The good news, I have not cleaned today. I have not swept my house at all today. This is good. You don't want to sweep good fortune away.

The bad news, My house is dirty. I was suppose to clean it before today, so that today it would be clean. There is even a special way to clean.

I'll try and do better next year.

I wish you good fortune and good health for this year of the Ox.

Jambalaya from Fun Friday

O and I are making dinner tonight!

Read more...

Life According To My Daughter

On Christmas evening in the bathroom at

Nonna and Papa's house:

O: "Boys should not see girls go pee.

     Girls should not see boys go pee."

Mommy: "No it's not nice. You're right."

O: "Because we would see their peanuts."

Not laughing, I told her the correct pronunciation. 

Later, I couldn't stop laughing.

In the car just getting into the

mountains on our way to Tahoe:

O: "HEY! Where's all the snow!"

Mommy: "We're not high enough yet. There will be snow."

About 15 minutes later:

O: "SNOW! I knew it. You didn't lie mommy!"

Almost 6 years old and already doesn't believe her mother. We are in such trouble. God please help me.

Flashbacks

When we came home from our wonderful Tahoe vacation I had flashbacks to last winter and discovering our horrible water leak.

This year our master bathroom sink decided to leak while we were gone. What is with going to Tahoe for New Years and coming home to a leak? I don't like this.

C discovered it was the hot water valve that was leaking. Once he turned it off it was fine. No hot water from that sink, but no leak. I put a fan on the open emptied cupboard and carpet to dry everything out.

Today I called my wonderful contractor (The LAST thing I wanted was for there to be damage on the new work that just got finished. Part of the bathroom is above the family room.). My contractor came over this afternoon and said it was not that bad. No repair needed! Thank you God! It just needs to dry out. He pulled the carpet back. It should take a few days, then he'll be back to tack the carpet back down. 

What a relief!

Friends Welcome Here

My cousin, Windshield Rosary, always has a wonderful thought provoking post. A day can not go by that I don't read her blog.

Her "Friends Welcome Here" post goes for me as well.

It's Snowing...

and my girls are sledding and loving it!

Our little snow bunnies

Happy New Year!

We have been ringing in the new year in Lake Tahoe. It's so beautiful here. It has been crisp and sunny, until today. Today is snowing. I love sitting here in the house watching the snow fall. It's so peaceful. Such a great way to start the new year.

Check out my photography blog (link below right) for some other images I've taken the last few days. Here are some fun photos of what we've been doing.

On New Years Eve we went into Truckee on our way to a friends house for dinner. So many great shops it was fun walking around.

Happy New Year! Our two little party animals. We had a great New Years Eve with friends in Truckee. The girls were barely awake, but perked up to pop streamers and wish everyone a happy new year.

Playing on the beach....snow or sand, our girls are happiest by the water.

Sledding in the side yard. We don't have to go far to have fun. We had a nice little (and I mean little) hill on the side of the house. Perfect for our girls, and Nonna, to do a little sledding.

Daddy made the hill a little bigger in the afternoon and the girls went out by themselves. They had a great time. They didn't care that it was getting dark. As a matter of fact they started throwing snowballs at the kitchen window and O asked us to turn the light on. Sorry, no side yard light....time to come in.