Best Brothers

The boys love to get all riled up together. When Son1 hears his brother wake, he wants to see him instantly! Son2 can't detests when we go somewhere in the car without his brother, because they make silly faces and sounds at one another when they are together. Watching the two play together warms my heart and tickles my soul! This is Son2's favorite brother game:

Single and in Hawaii

One of our groomsmen is in Hawaii for a year. A major Hawaii company is his new client. His NY based company has moved him here for the year. We met B at UCLA. He worked with Hubby and took a lot of classes with my sis. So surprise, B! Hubby literally said, put B on the blog and give a shout out and let everyone know he is single and in Hawaii for the year!Hubby and B went to dinner in Waikiki...don't you just love Hubby's UCLA aloha shirt? Aaahhh, we're up for some serious March Madness!!!

Replacements

A few years ago I sat at a scrap booking crop, looking down at my picture. Someone mentioned I could crop more of my picture. I told her that would defeat the purpose. I liked having my car in the background. I notice trends when I look at old photos, and I want my kids to see pictures of cars and anything else that was a trend of the time. I thought about that conversation when I looked at my new Costco purchases.

I heavily rely on my toaster oven. I use it most so I don't have to turn on my large oven and raise the temperature in my house on hot days in Hawaii. My Black and Decker toaster oven had been on it's last leg for awhile. It was a wedding present, so it was almost ten years old this summer. Some days it would toast, and some days I would coax it to work, firmly holding the door closed so it would start. All that ended the other day when I smelled something burning. Ding! I pulled out Son1's cheese toast, and glared at a flame coming from the heating rod. I blew out the flame, unplugged the toaster, and threw it in the trash. I called Hubby and told him we were going shopping for a new toaster oven. That was just the beginning.

Once we got to Costco, Hubby figured it was time to replace our smaller digital camera. After all, we purchased it new 3.5 years ago. Since then, it has withstood a lot of crash landings. Unfortunately, our camera became a senior citizen despite it's titanium body. The camera aged. We took several shots just to get a few clear pictures. What once was a clear shot now had unpredictable clarity. Plus, I dropped it when Hubby tossed it to me from the second story in December. Then there were the phones. There was a Costco coupon for cordless phones, so a set of new cordless phones was a planned purchase. I ruined one of our handsets when I spilled a glass of water, and the phone was in it's angry path. The ruined phone has a screen that no longer works, and hardly holds a battery charge for five minutes. But in case of an emergency it works! The coupon for phones meant it was definitely time to trade in our old phones. Our last large purchase of the day was a package of high thread count sheets. We previously bought a set and found they are the only set we like.

So what does this have to do with the scrap booking conversation? It struck me how all of these things have changed in a protracted amount of time. When we were first married Hubby and I used the toaster oven all of the time to bake smaller amounts of food. Now, ten years later, the toaster oven is the same price, but I get so much more for my money! It is stainless steel, toasts six slices instead of two, has a convection oven, defrosts food, and dehydrates, too. But my favorite feature is the pull out tray for crumbs. The new camera comes with some more mega pixels, and more internal memory. The cordless set we bought is about the same price as when we bought the last cordless set some years back. Then, we thought it was a deal that the set came with two bases, handsets, and an answering machine. The new set comes with five handsets. That is a bit much for us here, since I keep phones to a minimum with napping children. But they may come in handy if we ever move back to our Virginia house. Finally, when we bought high thread count sheets at Costco we thought we were in heaven with 400 thread count sheets. Now the sheets we bought are 540 thread count, for the same price.

So the trend seems that the cost of these items hasn't gone up in the last years, but the quality and quantity has improved for the money.

Ono in Hawaii

Ono is our way of saying something is delicious here. If it is onolicious, it means it is super delicious, in a local kind of way. Here is a little bit of this week's ono at our house.

My neighbor is on the state's professional competitive skin diving team. He shares fish with us every now and then. This time he brought us what is known in Hawaii as Ulua. Since the fish was under twelve pounds it is called Papio even though it is the same fish. If it is over that then it is called Ulua. The Ulua fish is the most sought after shore catch.The fish has white fillets. Hubby breaded it here for us and it was definitely onolicious!
Hubby brought home a special treat for Son1. An island favorite with the kids is Choco Boy. It is actually a Korean snack in the shape of a mushroom, like Choco Boy. The stem is made of a shortbread cookie and the mushroom cap is made of chocolate.

SBS Open

In the spirit of some serious, uh hem, civic duty and volunteerism, Hubby enthusiastically donated his time at the SBS Open, a LPGA golf tournament, held at the beautiful Turtle Bay Resort. This is the 2^nd year in a row he helped. Last year he had an amazing time. He followed around a threesome of professional lady golfers up close and took notes of their game. When he was doing his assigned job, he kept score and all of their statistics including greens in regulation, sand saves, fairway hits, you know, the real golfy kind of stuff. He was all about the complimentary golf pass they awarded him at the Turtle Bay Resort, the free passes for friends and family, his golf attire, plus free food and snacks…need I say any more F-R-E-E?

He arrived at the LPGA tournament this year with sweet and high expectations for two fun filled golf days. (Well, as fun as it gets chasing folks around that are chasing a little ball with a stick. You can see I am not the golfer in our family.) But not all golfers are alike. Last year all six players he interacted with were super friendly, thankful, and gracious. Each woman golfer and each caddy introduced themselves before the play started and thanked him for volunteering and helping them out. They recognized him. They each gave him a signed new golf ball from their personal bags.

This year, the first day round started with Soo-Yun doing her thing. The other two ladies, Patrica and Karine (whom he has dubbed The Frenchies) didn’t even knowledge his existence. At the end of the round, Soo-Yun gave him a Titleist ProVX ball and thanked him. The other two French women said nothing. His partner who held the scores up in the air said that he wasn’t expecting anything because of his previous trips to France.

He was a little down until the next day when he had an amazing time. He followed Jane Park and two others who were good players and placed in the top 10 and they were very courteous and thankful. The real question is whether he will be back next year…of course he will. He may even venture out and also try the men’s PGA tournaments too.

Don't Trust the Silence

It was quiet for a few moments. The quiet sounded peaceful, but in a moment felt worrisome. I caught Son2 just before bad turned into worse with the toilet paper.

So Serious It's Laughable

It was hard to keep a straight face around here today. This afternoon I heard the wind chimes jangling rather vigorously outside. There was a nice breeze, but definitely not anything particularly lively. This meant one thing. Son1 was up on a chair again, dangerously wobbling, clanging those wind chimes. I wasn't up for a trip to the hospital for stitches. I raced down the stairs and found Son1 jangling the wind chimes from atop a chair. He has been told not to do this before. He heard me open the screen door, snapped his hands down to his sides, flashed the widest grin and said, "Oh , HI!!!" I asked him what he was doing. "I'm ringing the bell!" I explained that he wasn't ringing a bell. "Yes I am ringing a bell. See?" And he turned to jangle the wind chimes again. My camera happened to be within reach.I told him he could fall and had to get down from the chair. Then I explained that this was not a bell, and that you don't jangle wind chimes, let alone wobbling from a chair. I had never explained exactly that these were wind chimes before. "Wind chimes," he whispered carefully, like he was concentrating, and then again as a matter of fact, "wind chimes." I explained about the wind, and how it makes the wind chimes jangle. I pointed out that we had a nice breeze, but that the wind was not blowing so hard to make the chimes ring very loudly, only softly. He looked at me intently, and said, "No, it's [the wind] broken." I busted up laughing, and he looked at me sheepishly. What was so funny?

Later in the evening, Hubby and Son1 played a little Wii together until bed time. After Son1 was tucked into bed, Hubby and I had ourselves a little Wii date. We love playing Brain Academy speed matches against one another. All of a sudden we heard the pitter pattering of three year old feet from upstairs, definitely out of bed. We just didn't stop playing. We were in a little competitive groove. Some minutes later, I sent Hubby up to regulate. Just as he turned to make his way up the stairs, we were surprised to find Son1 standing at the bottom of the stairs! We just looked at him before either one of us spoke. "HI!!!! I got dressed!" Sure enough, he had taken his PJs off, pulled on a new shirt, shorts, and even had new underwear on. No, he hadn't had a potty accident. He was ready to go somewhere. I asked him where he was going. He looked at me like it was obvious. "I'm coming downstairs. I want to play." Hubby recalled that he had turned off the only overhead light in his room, attached to the ceiling fan cord. So, Son1 had gotten dressed in the dark, with all of his clothing going in the right direction. We were so impressed that we weren't even upset. He wasn't kidding. In his mind, he got his clothes on just so he could join us to play Wii. We complimented him on his blind dressing skills, and Hubby marched him right back up the stairs for bed time.

Well, so much for discipline today. Son1 was so serious and earnest all at the same time, that we didn't really have too much to say besides, "Get down from that chair," and then a little later, "it's time for you to get back in your bed."

Gung hay fat choy!

Happy Gung hay fat choy! The Chinese New Year celebration has just ended. We have a large Chinese population on the island, so this is a big deal. Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the first month of the year with a new moon. This year, that was February 7. The celebration ends fifteen days later. The Chinese hat he made in preschool shows all of the symbols from the Chinese lunar calendar. We sent in a box of Chinese almond cookies for share and tell at preschool. Son1 came home with a little red envelope containing coins in honor of Chinese New Year.
On Friday his class went to Chinatown for the celebration. This is the year of the rat.

Aloha Apisas!

This week friends stayed with us that we had not seen in nearly seven years. Some of you have heard us say, "The Farmers are your friends for life." And we definitely mean it. I met Tacey eight years ago. We taught ESOL on the same team in Virginia for one year before she moved away. We kept in touch, even after I left Virginia. She saved and planned for the 6,000 mile trip to Hawaii for some time. We are so glad they enjoyed their stay. Son1 just adored his new friend. He would wake up every morning, and either ask for him, or say, "Where is the big boy? What's he doing?" It was time for our friends to say aloha. These moments are sad ones, particularly for Son1.

JOB (un)WANTED

I thought I knew what I wanted. A job opened up with a great non-profit I adore. The hours were part time, I could work from home, and my kids were welcome if they had to come with me for any work outside of our home. I updated my resume, prepared with a list of talking points for my interview, and interviewed boldly. What do you know, I was offered the job this week! The dynamics were a little different than when it was advertised, though. They weren't bad, just different. I told them I needed overnight to think about it.

I mulled it over that night. I was still considering all the next day. Night time came, and I was still undecided. I sat Hubby down and he reviewed the pros and cons with me. Still, I had no decision. Hubby offered one last piece of advice. If accepting the offer took me this long, I probably already had my answer. A little relief came over me. He was right. I voiced all of the reasons I shouldn't take the job. The reasons sounded solid. At last Hubby volunteered a few of his private thoughts. He told me how valuable I am to our home. Any time I spent away right now was time taken from our children and our household. The monetary compensation wasn't really comparable to the value of my physical presence in our home, particularly with Hubby's hours and travel. I came to a final conclusion. Since the monetary compensation wasn't a huge benefit, the only other benefit was the personal recognition. I smiled as I picked up the phone to share my final decision with the non-profit. My husband just gave me plenty of personal recognition. The recognition from my kids comes in sweet phrases and giggles. I work plenty now. This non-profit job sounded perfect. Hmmm, but not better than my current job, even with all of the overtime, stressful days, and toilet dramas.

A Partisan Adventure

Rest assured our family was at the voting poll yesterday. This is our first Presidential election year in Hawaii. As always, I brought my camera to take pictures of the kids because, after all, I want pictures of their first voting moments in the event I have birthed a future President. On my sister's recommendation, I called the Office of Elections for Oahu. I asked for my polling location for the primary election. The lady on the other end asked if I meant the caucus election. I hesitated for a moment. This time she stated it as a fact. "You mean the caucus election." She asked for my social security number, and asked me to verify my street address. Oh, District 38. She relayed the polling location. Then I asked polling hours. My poll opened at 6pm, voting began at 7pm, and the poll would not close any earlier than 7:30pm. That sounded very odd.

Hubby got home, and we planned to vote after dinner. But before we left for the polls, I received my third call from Hillary Clinton, herself, in three days. This time I figured we were old pals. I shouted "HI HILLARY!" at the recording before hanging up.

Remember how I said Son2 goes to bed by his choice, not mine, in the 6pm hour? We dressed him in his shark pajamas, knowing we would get back after bedtime. I spent a little time with Son1, explaining we were going to vote. He repeated it again, saying "we were going to boat." We get on a boat pretty often, so I clarified that we were going to vote, and explained a little about voting. After voting he could have my sticker for show and tell at school. Soon we piled everyone in the car, I grabbed my camera, and we found our way to the polling station at ten minutes to 7. People were out in droves. Even though the poll wasn't open, we still had to park three blocks away, and walk. We finally got to the polling station. People were wrapped around the building, down outside hallways, and around the back. The line was forming to the left of the crowd, but I made my way on the right side, and took my place. I looked back. No Hubby. I called his cell. I was now in line, and probably another 100 people had fallen into place behind me, with more coming. He had my driver's license stashed in his wallet. More people came into the line. Ring! More people. Ring! Finally he emerged in my view and answered his cell, but I could no longer see the end of the line with all of the people. I told him I was at the end of the line. "No, you are not at the end of the line. You now have cut off about 500 people. You are not at the end of the line." Now that was a bit of an exaggeration. Perhaps the number was closer to 150. It had to be less than the people at our wedding, which is generally how I gauge numbers of people. Finally we settled into our place in line, and I pulled out my camera to take pictures of our family. I explained to those around me why I take pictures of my kids at elections. A handful of people thought this was funny, and someone offered to take our picture.The boys started to get a little restless, so I started to play little games with each of them. We jumped off sidewalk curbs, and used the empty water bottle like a drumstick. Hubby started to wonder if our vote was really going to matter. He kept looking at his watch. He leaves for work every morning around 5:30am. We were inching closer to the door, but it was getting later and later. Our polling station served two entire districts. WOW. Most every time I voted the polling station was within blocks of where I lived. This was something new. Also, when I voted in Presidential election years in both California and Virginia, there seemed to be a buzz at the polls. Here, there was definite buzz. But it was not political. The buzz felt more like a family reunion, a local aloha, of sorts. I found out why, later.

The majority of the line snaked around outside. We finally could see the double doors ahead to the entrance. The line split in two for each district. Hubby tapped me on the shoulder. He announced that this was a caucus election...and not for our party. I asked him if he was sure. I had Googled the election information, and I had called the Office of Elections. In California and in Virginia it doesn't matter what political party you are registered with, everyone votes on the same day at the same polling station. But not in Hawaii. The lady behind me confirmed that this was a single caucus election. Apparently, my party doesn't participate in a caucus election. In other words, there is no February election in which I can participate. My first opportunity to vote will be in September in the primary election. This election was to elect a candidate to be the other party's nominee. Uh oh! Hubby urged us out of line. We thought we could be in stealth mode in the dark, and sneak out of line. The nice lady behind me promised that if either of my sons was elected President one day no one would ever know their picture was taken at a polling station where their parents never voted. I thanked her graciously, and we started inching our way out of line. We thought everything was ok until Son1 started belting out, "No MOMMY! I want to go THIS way! I want to go VOTE!" SIGH. We high tailed it back to our car, hauling a super sad Son1 by the hand. We got in the car, and Hubby thought for a moment. "This calls for a milkshake," he grumbled. Everyone's sentiments exactly. So everyone had a really late bed time and a milkshake, just to commemorate the occasion. So many people everywhere was completely exhausting. Later we found out that the caucus vote drew nearly 35,000 people, seven times greater than the last caucus.

Here is a trip down memory lane, for those of you who knew me back in the day when I voted at the Kingstowne Library. There is a 2.5 month old Son1 and me, and yes, I dressed us in red and blue on purpose.

Fast Friends

Hubby and I took turns watching Son2 in the shade and watching Son1 in the water. Son2 has been a little under the weather with sinus and ear infections. He is pretty good natured, even when he is sick, which makes a trip to the beach bearable.Almost the whole day, Son1 played with his new friend, Adam. I admired how they became fast friends. I reflected on how short a time in life we are uninhibited when choosing friends.

They laughed and jumped through the waves for hours. When a wave would knock one over, the other boy would look for his friend. It went on like this until it was time to go home.

Dental Devastation

My parents really hammered home dental hygiene from the time I could hold a toothbrush. A crocodile with some scary looking chomps and a toothbrush in hand was framed in our bathroom. My parents referred to him often. He had a nickname that escapes me now. I was educated on cavities, crowns, caps, bridges, and root canals from an early age. When I brushed my teeth, I was reminded to get all of the Cavity Creeps. Remember this?



My dentist was fantastic. He provided extra flouride treatments, and employed hygienists that were passionate about flossing and brushing. When I got my first cavity at 19 I felt like I had failed. So I continued to be diligent with my brushing and flossing all through my twenties. I beamed when the dentist would comment on my nice teeth. I started with a new dentist when I was pregnant with Son2. He asked if I had any dental concerns. "Yeah, if I walk out of here with more than the one cavity that I walked in here with." Total shock that in my early thirties I only had one cavity. A couple of hygienists came in just to take a look in my mouth. No, I was fine. This last visit was totally different.

The hygienist asked if she could take x-rays. Ugh. That's another thing my mom was really cautious about when I was little, unnecessary x-rays. I explained I only had one cavity. Did I really need the full set done? The dentist agreed that I might just need four molar bite wings. Guess what they saw? A cavity in between my teeth, only visible on an x-ray. The dentist came in a little sheepish. He greeted me, and started to explain...and I cut him off. "Are you going to say the C word to me?" Sure enough, he did. My cavity free pride was completely deflated. Truth be told, I have been really lax about flossing since I Son2 came along. I was totally bummed this could have been avoided. I called Hubby on the way home. He didn't get it. I suppose you really won't get it unless you have a super cavity free ego. Maybe my sister will get it. She hasn't gotten a cavity yet.

The next day I spoke with my mother. I shared my dental news with her. I wailed about my second cavity, and she acted like this was no big deal. What? After all of the years my parents were hyper-intense about teeth? I called her on it. Then she rose to the occasion and launched into a whole lecture about how this could have been avoided with better flossing. There, now I felt a whole lot better.

Valentine's Day

Hubby offered to take the Farmer Four out for dinner on Valentine's. After our last outing, I completely passed on his sweet offer and settled for a stress free, full of love, night at home with my men.



Son1 was just happy to have another Valentine's celebration. Earlier he had a class party where he made his Valentine Rambo-like crown. Now don't you just love this combo? This was an impromptu, dig through some cupboards, kind of table setting. I only break out with a table cloth for special occasions. This year's Valentine's included paper plates and paper cups to go with my nice linen.
Hubby set the menu for dinner and saved me from any work. He made a special plate for Son1 with his favorite, macaroni and cheese. The kids went to bed early and we settled in for three great episodes of three great shows. Amen to DVR!

Wishing for Fishing

Hubby picked up some brand spanking nice new fishing poles, tackle box, and gear at a yard sale. Ooohh Son1 thought these were the coolest. He begged to go fishing. Incidentally, he had been fighting naps, too. No, he is not outgrowing naps. He still naps for two and three hour stretches. When he doesn't nap he is a totally different child, one I can't recognize and care not to blog about. We told him if he napped for three days in a row, we would take him fishing. Sure enough, he napped three days in a row for two to three hours at a time. He was motivated! He knew when he woke up from his third nap it was time to go fishing! We packed up the kids, some snacks, and the gear, and headed for the fishing dock.We pulled into the dock around sunset. Every Hawaiian sunset is a winner. I held my breath for a few seconds, and marveled in the beauty. Son1 loves sunsets, too.

Read the top sign. Did we really want to catch anything?

We unloaded the snacks and set everyone up. Not one Farmer caught a fish. We did watch the folks next to us reel in a handful, and watched a puffer fish break their line. I wonder if they had better luck because they had better bait. Maybe these fish really just don't go for cheeseburger bait.

Toilet Trouble!

Yesterday Son1 stalled for a nap. My patience was dwindling while supervising his last potty attempt, and he could sense it. "Mommy, you go OUTSIDE!! You go on the computer and I do potty all myself!!" I told him he had five minutes. Now, he is unsupervised in the potty all of the time. He is totally capable of getting his business done, redressed, and washing his hands. On those days when he stalls, though, I hang out just to make sure no funny business happens. Lately, he has enjoyed the whole idea of privacy, so I figured that maybe, just maybe, this was a little case of privacy and not playing in the bathroom. I left the door open to his bathroom. We have this little built in office alcove under an arch just outside of his bathroom. I really was only just a few feet away.

The toilet flushed. WOW he really did get it all done in five minutes. Then I heard the water. It sounded like he opened the faucet all the way. SHRIEK. "MOOOOMMMMMMMYYYY!!!!!!" SHRIEK SHRIEK. Oh no. Had he burned himself???? I jumped up and found an overflowing toilet just cascading all over the bathroom at bullet speed. I grabbed some bathtub pitchers and scooped and scooped and scooped water from the bowl and tossed and tossed and tossed into the bathtub. I glanced at him as he started to cry, but my eye caught the brown cardboard tube. "Did you shove toilet paper down the toilet?" "Yes." Ugh. Shreds of toilet paper were floating to the surface. Scoop, dump, scoop, dump. All the while water is still cascading....cascading like a water fall. The rugs were completely soaked. I looked at him, said his full name, and told him to wait for me in his room on his bed. "Mommy!!" I repeated myself again in as calm of a voice as I pictured Hubby using, because hardly anything shakes that man. I am trying to take lessons from him. Son1 defeatedly turned and slipped on the wet granite, and wailed. "Mommy!" Scoop, dump, scoop, dump. Aaaaggghh!!!

Calmly, sternly, I repeated myself again. He disappeared in the direction of his room. I looked down and the water stopped churning upward. It settled. It was at a reasonable level. Maybe it was over. I grabbed the two rugs Flylady had me wash earlier. Well, I was an over achiever. I washed these rugs in addition to the others she asked me to wash. I had swept and mopped this very floor earlier. I threw those rugs in the bathtub and looked at myself in the mirror. I was totally soaked. Totally.

I walked into Son1's room, and got him settled for a nap. "Mommy, you're happy?" I shook my head. "No, mommy is very, very sad." And wet. I recounted the event from beginning to end. "No, mommy YOU'RE HAPPY!!" I warned he had better take a nap and not get up.

I left his room, and scooped all of the wet towels and wet rugs and made a couple of trips down to the laundry, and tried to reorder the bathroom a little. But the afternoon just flew by with Son2 waking up from his nap, and Son1 asking to come out, though he never napped. Hubby called. I told him a little of what had gone on. Oh. He wanted to know if he could play some tennis after work. I reminded him I had a meeting to attend that evening. He offered to cancel, but a little guilt crept over me. Go, I told him.

By the time he got home, we were like two passing ships. I was putting Son2 down for bed. Son1 was fed, and was ready for bedtime. Before he went upstairs he asked if I had plunged the toilet. Well there was this little miscommunication. He thought I had said yes. He was listening for a one word response. But I told him that the water level had stabilized and that the toilet had stopped spewing. He took that to mean yes. So you can only imagine what happened after the toilet flushed. Yup. It happened all over again, and I needed to leave. Fortunately neither time involved #2. Hubby just looked at me and said, "Were you on the internet when he flooded the toilet?" And you know what I said?

"Now, you don't think I would have let him just do that with me standing there, do you??" There you go. One more time he was looking for a one word response, and he got a string of words. But Hubby is a lot faster at these messes. He had that bathroom reordered in a matter of minutes. That didn't make it any better, though.

People say that raising kids just goes so quick! And it does. It really does. But when you are in the moment, it sure can feel like forever.

Corny Surprise

Hubby was coming back from the North Shore, and he called me to tell me he had picked me up a surprise. Now, the North Shore is what we call "up in the country" on our island. A lot of the land is designated as rural. There are a lot of road side stands where folks sell their goods. He brought me these and some avocado.I love ears of corn, but Hubby doesn't really. That's usually because I can settle for the frozen ones, and they don't taste so good. But there is just something about farm fresh, even Hubby can appreciate. He made these last night with our fillet mignon.

Stopping Traffic

I am loving having a three year old. We are into a serious phase of pretend. It gets to be really fun when he plays more than one role at a time. Sometimes he is the conductor, the ticket taker, and the boy riding the train all in the same scene. Other times he is both the teacher and the student. Most often he is the fire fighter. The other night at Cubbies, though, he was Uncle Steve directing traffic. (Uncle and Aunty are terms of respect here like Sir and Ma'am in the South.) Usually Uncle Steve directs traffic using his flash light in the tight parking lot. But this night Son1 was directing traffic with a Valentine's pencil based on the Cars movie. All the while I heard his little mantra: I-AM-SPEED. I was chatting away with his Cubbies leader, when out of the corner of my eye I saw cars stopping, and heads hanging out car windows. I turned to find my son directing traffic, and folks stopping to chat it up with him. So many folks paid him attention! Someone asked his permission to proceed up the drive. Another person asked him for directions. One more person asked if it was safe to go this way. Lots of people laughed. And then there was me. I laughed differently, with a sense of pride.

Bloggity Love

I participated in a Valentine's Goody Swap at An Island Life. My swap buddy is over at Memoirs of the Shoe Obsessed. Here is what she sent:

And I sent my package with an Aloha theme....chocolate covered macadamia nuts, macadamia nuts, red heart lomi lomi pillow, Hawaiian flower calendar (since I couldn't send a real lei), Hawaiian soap and lip balm made uniquely here, and some flip flop post its, you know, for the shoe obsessed!

Dragon Fly Day

We stood out on the front lanai watching two dragonflies in the rain. Son1 had an old disposable camera and knew this was a shutter bug moment. He shrieked and shouted and made sure I was standing right there to share in his bug moment. "You see it mommy? Pick me up! Pick me up!" And the little wonder he felt about that bug was sort of like the wonder I felt at being his mommy just at that very moment, watching him watch that pink and black striped winged creature.

Drinking from the pink blossom

I am Warning You, Waitresses!

Waitresses, this is fair warning before the Farmer Family sits down at your table. There is a high probability Son2 will spill some cheerios on the floor, and Son1 may spill a little of his milk. I always get down and pick up anything that has been strewn on the floor so that it doesn't have to be done by you. But we will still tip you well! We promise you no less than twenty percent for a job well done. Despite our best efforts to clean the area around children's seats, there may still be some rogue evidence. But most of it will be picked up before the bill comes to the table. Now, if you want a chance at a good tip, forget about sucking up to the adults at the table, and quit ignoring my kids. It is far more effective to suck up to my three year old than to me. I could care less how many iced tea refills you bring me, or that you smile and use your bad acting skills as an attempt to convince me you care about me and my comfort. You don't. I know that. You are working your tip. But had you done something so simple as bring out my child's food first, you could have scored more green out of Hubby's wallet. That tiny little act of kindness would make me less edgy and incline our generosity. Think through the ramifications of bringing out the adult plates with nothing for my three year old. And when a little three year old asks about his macaroni and cheese, you should at least acknowledge his question.

So you want to know what happened? Well, you got the part about the macaroni and cheese taking forever to come out. We explained to Son1 oodles of times that they were cooking it. We tried to distract him and change the conversation a few times. Just when I thought I had diverted his attention, guess what commercial comes on TV at the restaurant? Yes, a macaroni commercial. Well, my plate came out, and Hubby's plate came out, without a plate for Son1. He took one look at his dad's chicken alfredo plate with some Superman tunnel vision. That's all he wanted. Who is going to say no to a hungry child? When the macaroni finally showed up, Son1 wanted nothing to do with it. He ate about half his dad's plate. We boxed up that macaroni and that was dinner for the next night for him. The waitress....sigh. She just didn't get it. She used that fakey fakey nicey nicey voice on repeated trips to our table, offered us more drinks , asked how we were doing, did our food taste ok, and wouldn't answer Son1's questions about his macaroni and cheese, not even once. Then this little face was priceless. Forget the macaroni and cheese, I want that.

Soccer Surprises

Son1 has been talking up soccer, and takes note when he sees soccer practices or games. Son1 really hit the I-wanna-play-soccer button recently. Hubby took him out for some one on one soccer for the first time. Sure, we have played kick the ball back and forth, but never any serious footwork. And kicking the ball back and forth with me is one thing. Playing with his dad is a whole other story. Hubby used to coach high school soccer. He played on adult leagues, and was selected to start on the War College Varsity Team in 2003. So when Hubby came home and said Son1 showed some potential, I listened.He is almost old enough to play on a team. We hope his interest holds up. If not, there is always chess.

Wonderphone

Even after living in Hawaii for three years, I learn something new every day. A group of Son1's friends had a tentative play date for Friday at the park. E. called and we couldn't decide if we could beat the rain for a playdate. I suggested she call T. and call me back. "Do you have Wonderphone?" What was that? I asked her if I had a what?

"Ohh. So you can get get another call coming in, but you can't make another one going out?" No. "Ohhhh. Wonderphone, you know...that's what you folks on the mainland call three way calling, right?" I just cracked up laughing. "YES. I guess that's what you call wonderphone?" We never went to the park, and I didn't talk to T. because I don't have Wonderphone.

Later that night I told my neighbors my new vocabulary word. So they taught me another new one, pilau pronounced pee-lau. It is a local pidgin slang that means dirty, filthy, or with a stench. Here it is used in a sentence:
Brah, yo clothes stay pilau. You no like go wash um or wot?

Other words of interest in Hawaii:
rubbish- used instead of the word trash. We don't have trash cans. We have rubbish cans and rubbish trucks.
wagon-used instead of shopping cart.
all pau- pronounced pow...means all done
pau hana-celebrating the end of the work day
pu pu- pronounced pooh pooh...doesn't mean going #2. Word used for any heavy appetizers or finger foods.
doo doo- going #2....very important if you want to be understood with a little one.
shi shi- going #1

There are several others...I'll teach them to you when you get here....

Twenty One Days to a New Grocery Habit

About three weeks ago, through a series of clicks, I found a blog about a family and their Grocery Cart Challenge. You can read how it all started here. A mother of four chronicles how she feeds her family on $50 a week. HA! Well, they obviously don't live in Hawaii, I thought. I read how she makes her own laundry soap for $1.42. I had no desire or time to do that. But her grocery cart challenge did make me ask questions:

Do we spend too much on groceries? Yes. Three weeks ago, we didn't have a food budget. If we needed something (with a very sketchy definition of need) we bought it. We have two full sized refrigerators, plus a pantry. And all three areas were well stocked three weeks ago.

Could we spend less? Yes.

Why spend less money on groceries? Hmm. Well, not because we needed money for other things or more stuff. It's not because we were in debt, strapped, or lacking investments. The bottom line was that we were spending money on groceries indiscriminately. Our purchases were justified because they were supposedly good deals. Yet food spoiled and was thrown out. We previously blamed that on the climate, and not because we were buying too much out of perceived need. We definitely could be better stewards of how we spent money on groceries.

That night I talked to Hubby. I told him about the Grocery Cart Challenge blog. I explained I had no desire to see what was the least we could get away with and boast a drop in the bucket grocery budget. Still, I wanted to define a reasonable weekly budget for our family and try to stick to it. So, we came up with a figure nearly forty percent less than what we were spending. I am not going to publish it, but if you really want to know the figure, email me and I will tell you. The budget includes money for cleaning supplies, but not diapers. Our previous average monthly spending included, must have, non-edibles from Costco. Under the new budget, we avoid those at all costs.

For the last three weeks I limited myself to shopping for groceries once a week. We stopped making repeated trips to Costco just for fun. That forced me to plan what we were going to eat, and really examine our food needs. I asked Hubby for a list every week of what he wanted. I paid attention to what Son1 requested. I was not committed to eating cheap. I was committed to eating well, but being wise with our spending. I added things up as I shopped. I really thought about how much I was spending in meat, vegetables, and fruit. What could we realistically eat in a week? What would go untouched? The first week I was over $5.99. The second week I was under $6.59, and the third week I was over by $1.96. So in three weeks I was over by a total of $1.36! We haven't thrown out any food in three weeks. Granted, it has been cooler, in the low 70s than in previous weeks. But I think it's because we haven't had an excessive amount of food.

On Thursday I was telling ABC about our new grocery habits. She asked what I had learned from budgeting for groceries. Well, I skipped the obvious stuff about throwing away food, perceived needs, and more savings. I didn't share I learned about that stuff, though I did. I learned that when we have a food budget, we eat better. We don't spend money on extra appetizers, prepared foods, and extra snacks. Given a choice between buying tuna or albacore, I bought the albacore even though it was twice as expensive. I learned that I am committed to eating well, not cheap, and within our budget. Last night I bought fillet mignon for $22 something. I worked that into my budget. I got four times the amount of steak for what I would have spent at a steakhouse for just one fillet. Besides, it was a request from Hubby this week. I purchased what we needed, and did not shop like we could possibly be hit by a hurricane in the next few days, and needed to stock up. Still, at the end of each week, we never ran out of food. Supposedly it takes three weeks to form a new habit. We are on our way!

It's Not Super Tuesday in Hawaii

I called Sis at 5:45am here, 7:45am her time. No answer. I hung up. She called back happy, happy, happy it is Super Tuesday. She asked me whom I was voting for and why. "If I were voting, I would vote for...". (Oh, and by the way, I have changed my mind, since.) She figured that was my vote, and she started to share whom she was voting for and why, until it hit her what I said.

"What?!? What do you mean you're not voting today?" She almost came unglued. She was shocked. Mind you, we are not voting at all for the same person, but it was her civic duty to be bothered. Now, my sister and I think super differently all of the time about all things not political. It never bothers me to tell her my thinking. Except today. "Ok...well, I am not voting because..."
"You're not registered?!?" she finished, incredulously. "No, I'm registered. I don't know where I am supposed to vote." Okay, I said it sheepishly because I knew what was coming next. Another wave of her shock.

I know, I know, I know. Don't jump down my throat. I know it is a lame excuse. I don't have my voter registration card handy. But don't worry, my sister was just not going to settle for that. Oh noooo. She started fishing around her car on the 101 highway while driving, found her voter registration guide, and tells me what office is listed for California, and that I need to call the same office in Hawaii to find out where to vote. Of the many things she said to me, this was my favorite: "Oh come on. This is America! Do you think they are not going to let a registered voter not vote?!?" And this is the thing about attorneys. Somehow they know a lot about loopholes. Her suggestion was to show up at any polling center, and if it wasn't my center they would call to find out where I should vote. Now, I listened to her, but it was early folks. I knew Hawaii wasn't one of the 24 states participating in the Super Tuesday primaries. Why it slipped my mind, I have no idea. But I have to give her a big hand anyway, because oh...she just gave me some of her sweet billable time to research and send me a nice little email with numbers for the Office of Elections and City and County of Honolulu. Oh, and of course a little note that Hawaii wasn't a Super Tuesday state. Gee, thanks. Really, I am much more politically savvy than she thought. The Hawaii primary election is not until February 19. And that's why I hadn't gotten too serious about looking for the voter registration card. Did I mention it was 5:45am when she called? Or that I had gone to bed around 2am because I was motivated to get some stuff accomplished the night before? Or that I was a little taken by her Super Tuesday enthusiasm? So now, there you go Sis. Rest assured I am voting on the 19th, just as soon as I find out where my polling place is located.

February Santa

I have a little confession to make. I am way behind on packing up Christmas. Today we put the last of the Christmas stuff in the attic. We just got so busy we fell behind. Now it just wasn't the decorations. Sigh....I fell behind on the pictures, too. December really seemed so long that I kept putting off taking Son2's picture in his Santa suit. He had two back to back ear infections in December, and took ten days of antibiotics each time. He was practically medicated the whole month, and I figured I would just wait for some great pictures when he felt better. So December turned into January, and January just picked up speed. The next thing you know it was February 1. Yes, I am completely embarrassed about this! I pulled out the little red Santa suit and said TODAY February 1 is the Santa photo shoot.
Now if I had taken these pictures in December, then I sure wouldn't have gotten these pictures:

Standing Santa

Starting With A Shiny Sink

My home should be better organized. I always say if there was one more skill God could have given me, it would have been organization. Now I can't blame my organization deficit on my environment. My sister is an absolutely organized, color coded, filed away kind of person. We are only 11 months apart and were raised under the same roof. Environment is definitely not to blame. Who really cares, anyway. I want to be better. That's what counts.

I tried to reread an organization book, about 4 inches thick. I just wasn't all that motivated, and found myself arguing internally with the author's points. She just didn't know me. Then I decided to give Fly Lady a try. Now, she gets me. In her WhyFly? testimony, she shares how she became this incredibly organized person over a 12 month period, in 1999. In other words, she wasn't born with the innate desire to organize, but learned the skills. Whew, I thought. There is hope for me!

The first step to learn to fly is shining the sink. She claims shining the sink gives a sense of accomplishment, and is her way of hugging me every morning. Judge for yourself. Here is a Before and After shot of one of my sink basins.


Through her Yahoo Group FlyLady sent me 31 days of Flying lessons. I printed and stapled the 12 page list (looks relatively simple) and have it propped up against my shiny sink. Tomorrow I am working on Day 3. Plus, I am working on the February strategy of decluttering every day for 15 minutes. Today I purged a ton of magazines, plus other clutter.

I am motivated. I ditched watching a movie with Hubby because I just had to shine my sink, make his lunch, and start on some light sweeping. Now, truth be told I was quite emotionless over the sink the first night. Now I am hooked and desire more organiztion! I think it's that sink! FlyLady hardly expected anything from me the first three days. I am doing more than she asked. WHY? I am certain it is the shininess of my sink! After I get through my 31 days of assignments I will let you know how it's going. Now, it may take more than 31 days to get my FLYing assignments done, so bear with me!

Two Crayons For the Price of One

Son1 is working on proper pencil grip in preschool. His teachers told him to first pinch his nose, and then pinch the writing implement, just like his nose. He has no problem pinching his nose. Transferring that little pinch to a crayon is a totally different story. The teacher gave me another great tip. She told me that when students use a crayon snapped in half they most likely will hold the crayon correctly. Huh...I suddenly felt a small sense of control come over me.

That night we sat down to do some of Son1's schoolwork. Then I remembered the crayon tip. I snapped the crayon in half. Son1 glared at me. "You broke my crayon, you broke my crayon!" I handed over a box and offered to let him help me snap the crayons in two.
After awhile Son1 really warmed up to crayon festivities, and snapped all of the crayons until he finished. And like magic, his finger grip on the crayon has gotten so much better!

Watermelons On My Doorstep

If you read Rachel over at HisTreasuredPossession you know she kept us in suspense all week with her mysterious excitement. After a couple of days she asked for prayer that the LOST box (clue to the Farmers) be found. The first call came on Wednesday. I didn't check my caller ID, but this voice on the other end couldn't have really been someone that just delivered a baby, though it sounded an awful lot liker her. By the way, there was no hello, how are you, nothing like that. You know, people that have three kids in three years, they just get down to business on the phone. Her first words to me were, "Did you get a box?" I told her I hadn't. "Did your mail come today?" I told her it had. "And you didn't get a box??" I told her no, but sometimes our packages do come later in the day. "Well, can you just go check? I mailed it Monday!" I asked her if she wanted me to do that NOW? She had no clue I had one little boy indispose. "YES!!" I put the phone down for my unidentified caller, (couldn't be Rachel, she just had a baby, and people who just have babies wouldn't take 3 kids to the post office), I ran down the stairs, out the door, checked the front lanai (Hawaiian word for covered porch) and even checked a second time in the mailbox. No box. I ran back up the driveway and back to the phone. I told her "no box." Sure enough, it was a very bummed Rachel on the other line. She said something about mailing other boxes on the same day, and my mind started to race. "You mailed more than one box?" She confirmed this. Ah hah! "Does this have to do with your blog post today?" She confirmed that, too. "Ohh!" I took a deep breath. A game. This was a game!!! And you know how my Competitive Spirit loves games! I started blabbering on about the possibility of a game, and my eagerness, and ooohhh I just couldn't wait! And she started to say something, and I said, "Ooohh don't tell me!" because I had this all figured out, and you know how I rarely get surprised. She promised she wasn't going to tell me, anyway. We went on to have a lovely conversation that was like oh, forever, which was just scrumptious. The second call came on Thursday. No box. "Well, am I holding everyone up?" I asked, because this of course, was a game. No, but she was becoming increasingly concerned. I assured her that priority mail can take up to 4 days to Hawaii. We would try again Friday. So Thursday night, I confessed myself to Hubby, and we were both full of anticipation for this sacred box, because you know how he loves him some games, but um, we would never call him competitive. Friday, when the mail came, Hubby was on his way out the door. "IS THERE A BOX?" I called. "There's a box!! Can you open it?" And of course, I dove for it, and told him I could. He was on his way to an appointment, but I said I would call him in a few. I tried to rip open that box as quick as possible, but Rachel sure can tape.

And when I finally got it open, I gasped. I was completely overwhelmed. This was better than any game, because as good as a game is, it is only temporary.

I knew Rachel had just started quilting. This quilt was made in my very favorite colors, affectionately called my "happy colors." I wear these colors on days I am especially happy. I tore open the card. My heart totally fluttered. She had been working on this for 4 years. She had started the quilt back in her apartment when she found out I was pregnant with my eldest, thinking I might have a girl. Then they moved just down a little ways to their townhome, and she was busy with Ethan, just a few months older than mine. Now finally, after we both have moved from NoVA, she finished it 4 years later. In her card she mentioned that the quilt is not perfect. Well, neither are we. I called Hubby totally awed. "Can you believe she has been working on it for four years? It's in my favorite colors, and it is just beautiful!!" Quickly, I called Rachel next. I tried to convey how much I loved it, but I know I was at a loss for the right words to say. I mean, I wasn't at a loss for words, but get it, the right words, the words I really wanted to say, just didn't come out. Well, she was thrilled and I was thrilled, and I think that came across. She spoke all the right words, and she didn't even know it. She went on a few times about how the quilt isn't perfect, and mentioned the words four years over and over, in the midst of a lot of other stuff we said. Those were the words that kept ringing in my head. You see, we met Rachel and Abel almost seven years ago. We spent so much time together with them, up late at night playing LOTS of cards and dining on Rachel's yummys. Our friendship grew and grew. She was my first visitor in the hospital when I had Son1. And then there was this little bump in the road of our friendship. It has totally been smoothed over, by God's grace. But even through my excitement, a little part of me remembered the little bump, and was moved to tears I was holding the quilt in my hands, knowing we were able to restore our friendship. I love you, Rach! I am putting the card in my hope chest. The quilt I will keep next to my bed, and cherish it always.

Pink Hatters at IBC Tea, 2004

New Year's Eve at the Farmers 2004, almost 2005